World Record Rainbow Trout Caught in Canada

Should World Record Fish Be Judged by Weight or Length?

Many fisherman have dreamed of catching a world record fish but one fisherman proves that all it really takes is patience and a lot of skill. The question I pose to you is whether the record should be judged by weight or by length? Length is a measure of the age of a fish.

Adam Conrad (26) and his twin brother Sean have been fishing in Lake Diefenbaker in southern Saskatchewan most of their lives and have nearly perfected the art of catching large rainbow trout. Many of the fish that they catch are over 30 lbs. Adam caught this world record rainbow trout using a 4-inch Mepps Syclops on a six pound test line. That's right he used a 4-inch lure on a six pound test line, I would call that pretty brave but he must know what he's doing.

The world record is determined by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) which uses a weight class system to determine the world's larges rainbow trout.I have heard some fisherman advocating for the fish's length to be the determining factor in deciding world records instead of the traditional method which is decided by weight.

The argument made is that a fish's length would tell the age of the fish instead of what it has been eating. As with any animal with age comes wisdom. The wiser the fish, the more difficult it is to catch. This, some say, would be more deserving of a world record because with a wiser fish it takes more skill to catch. It has also been claimed that a penned fish farm lost a lot of fish back in the 1990's and this fish may be one of those, feeding off of pellets. I personally don't buy that theory, this fish was probably hanging out too ow in the water to be eating pellets.

I tend to take the side of the traditional weight class because the worlds largest fish is more interesting to me than the worlds oldest fish. It would be interesting if both factors could come into play in making the final decision for the IGFA's record.

Either way as a fisherman myself, I must give much respect to the Conrad's and their determination and skill. They have toyed with the idea of opening a guide business on Lake Diefenbaker that I'm certain would do very well with their skill and knowledge of that lake.