66-year record record for biggest brook trout caught in Moosehead Lake is broken

Editor’s Note: Tim Obrey’s report on Moosehead Lake has some startling news. A 66-year record for the biggest brook trout caught has been broken. Obrey, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s regional fisheries supervisor for the Moosehead Lake region, tells the story this way:

By  Tim Obrey, Moosehead Lake Region regional fisheries supervisor, 

On July 4, 1959, John Dixon landed a 7-pound 8-ounce squaretail from Moosehead Lake. It was 25.25 inches long with a 17.5-inch girth. His catch is documented in Roger AuClair’s book,  “Moosehead Lake Fisheries Management.”

After Mr. Dixon passed, his wife donated the mounted fish to our office and it hangs in our conference room on a beautiful piece of bird’s-eye maple. Roger researched many of the old fishing records for the lake, including sporting camp records dating back to the days of Camp Comfort, which began operation in 1894. 

While there were many 3-5 pound brook trout recorded back in those days, Mr. Dixon’s fish is recognized as the biggest squaretail ever caught from Moosehead Lake — until now.

When I’m sitting at my desk and my phone buzzes and I get the text message “Eric Ward – image,” I kinda’ know what’s coming. If the day ends in “Y”, Eric is likely out on the water or  hardwater somewhere. 

He is persistent and he is one of those guys that knows how to catch fish. He was fortunate enough to grow up on Moosehead Lake and he loves to fish and he’s darn good at it.

This winter we had pretty good ice conditions in January, which is prime time for brook trout on Maine’s largest lake. This gave anglers like Eric additional opportunity to home in on some big fish. 

I had already received several texts and images from Eric in early January with some impressive fish. In fact, he caught eight or nine brook trout over 3.5 pounds this winter, including one at 4 pounds and four or five fish between 5 and 6 pounds. 

All of these fish were released back to the lake. This is enough to make every avid angler envious. But on Jan 22 , I got a call that he was headed to the office, and I should get the scale ready. It could only mean one thing. 

Eric’s big trout, which he nicknamed “Neo” (for all you Matrix Fans out there), officially weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces. It cleared the old record by 2 ounces. It was (just over) 25 inches long. 

Eric  said he was very grateful that he was using a 10-inch auger this winter. The behemoth  football-shaped brookie was a handsome male fish with the tell-tale white-tipped dorsal, indicating he was an old codger. This was definitely a fish of a lifetime, or many lifetimes, and  worthy of an official weight and putting on the wall. 

So, congratulations on breaking the record and adding to the excitement of fishing on Moosehead Lake. I know Eric is already thinking about how to catch that 8-pound brook trout.

We’ve seen some very impressive fish in recent years on the big lake. They’re out there. We have the momentum. It’s just a matter of time.