New State Record Lake Trout Certified FAIRPORT HARBOR, OHIO -- A new state record lake trout was caught recently by a Lake Erie angler, surpassing the previous state record by more than 3 1/2 pounds, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. The new state record lake trout, weighing in at 20.49 pounds, was caught April 20 by Tom Harbison of Natrona Heights, PA while perch fishing on Lake Erie near Conneaut Harbor . Harbison was about one mile off shore in 48 foot of water and using 12-pound test monofilament line on a casting reel when he caught the record fish. The new record lake trout was certified by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio that officially certifies all-tackle state record fish. "At first I thought I had a burbot or a drum, said Harbison. "But then after fighting it for awhile I thought it was a walleye. Then after about 4 or 5 minutes, I just knew it was something big. I knew it wasn't a steelhead because it would have broken water right away. Then when I saw it I was really shocked to see it was a lake trout." Harbison, a licensed charter captain, added the fish was his first-ever lake trout. The record fish measured 34 inches long and had a girth of 23 inches. Biologists at the Division of Wildlife's Fairport Harbor Fisheries Research Station used a length at age graph supplied by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Lake Erie Committee's Cold Water Task Group to age the fish at about 24 years of age. "There were virtually no lake trout in Lake Erie from the 1960s through the early 1970s, said Carey Knight, fisheries biologist with the Division of Wildlife's Fairport Research Station. "Sea lampreys and loss of habitat reduced populations to near extinction. Lake Erie fisheries agencies began stocking lake trout in the 1970's, and it's possible that this fish was one of the early fish that were stocked. " The previous Ohio record lake trout of 16 pounds, 11 ounces and was caught by Daniel Wilson June 6, 1993 from Lake Erie.
Source: ODNR
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