iStockphoto / Jaclyn Vernace
Rhode Island fisherman Zachary Taylor from Burrillville caught a record rainbow trout at the end of last month while fishing at Peck Pond. Luckily for him, he was fishing on the Rhode Island side of Peck Pond and not the far West portion of the lake which belongs to the state of Connecticut.
According to The Valley Breeze, Zachary Taylor was ice fishing through a tiny 6-inch hole when he pulled up the new state record rainbow trout. He told the local outlet that it took “some finagling” to get the 15 pound, 12 ounce rainbow trout through the tiny hole.
The previous state record for rainbow trout in Rhode Island was a 12 pound, 9.12 ounce fish. So Zachary Taylor’s trout absolutely smashed that record. And for what it’s worth, it would have also broken the Connecticut state record for rainbow trout if he was fishing on the far West side of Peck Pond.
The new R.I. fishing record hold shared this video of his trout after he pulled it through the tiny ice hole back on January 18th:
Burrillville resident sets state record for largest rainbow trout caught.
He shared the video he took right after the catch. https://t.co/B9oYt9BbTm pic.twitter.com/E7KFzgZRUu
— bella pelletiere (@Bellapell__) February 1, 2024
Interestingly, of all the trout fishing records in Rhode Island the Rainbow Trout is the biggest by several pounds. The Golden Trout record in R.I. is 12lbs9oz, and the Brown Trout record is 7lbs9oz, less than half of the rainbow record.
As for how massive the fish was, Taylor told The Breeze “I did not expect that or anticipate that, it was quite the surprise and extremely exciting.” After pulling it through the ice, he took it to a nearby store named Jerry’s Bait and Tackle to weigh his fish on a certified scale and then worked with the state’s Department of Environmental Management to certify his new fishing record.