This post was last updated on January 14th, 2016 at 02:04 am

Ontario’s World Record Brook Trout and a Close Call from Manitoba

The image above shows Tim Matheson with the current Manitoba record brook trout. This brookie likely weighed in at almost 16lbs, but Tim decided to release this fish and be a good sportsman. He caught this trout in 2006 and took some measurements, based upon the length and girth calculations this fish should be the world record. IGFA (International game fish association) requires fish to be weighed on certified scales to be considered official, so this fish does not qualify. There can be no doubt that this fish is a tremendous specimen!

The Current World Record From Ontario  (14lbs 8 oz)

It was 1916 in the backwoods of Ontario, when John William Cook set out on a 7 day guided fishing trip. Once they reached the prime fishing area deep in the wilderness, John Cook hooked a massive trout probably weighing around 16 pounds. He was using a live sculpin as bait. With several days of fishing left they tried their best to preserve the fish. After a long hike out of the wilderness, the fish was finally officially weighed at 14 lbs 8 oz making it a clear word record. Had that brook trout been weighed days earlier, it would have likely weighed a lot more. By the time it arrived to civilization to be weighed, it was already beginning to decompose and had lost a lot of weight.

This trout was caught in an area known to harbor lake trout, which will occasionally breed with the brook trout to make a hybrid known as a “splake“. These fish will grow much larger and faster than a purebred brook trout will. There has been arguments ever since this fish was caught about the authenticity of this trout’s genes. The only way to know for sure whether or not the current world record brook trout was a pure salvelinus fontinalis, is with dna testing, however the Nipigon Museum that held this fish burned down in 1990; taking with it the hope of ever knowing the truth.

Nipigon Museum will be receiving a commissioned wood carving of the World Record Brook Trout on June 7th, 2014.  This will start the celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary year of that catch on July 21.