Monster lake trout caught on Moosehead

By Susan Bard, Bangor Daily News Outdoors Editor

Neal Cartonio landed a trophy lake trout on Moosehead Lake on Monday. The fish weighed 16.34 pounds, measured 37 inches long and had a 19-inch girth.

Cartonio, of Porter, has fished Moosehead Lake for more than 20 years but had never caught a lake trout this big. He was fishing with his wife, Morgan, and their dog, Willie, when it struck a lure while trolling with a downrigger. The fight lasted about 15 minutes. 

“When my wife netted the fish, she could hardly lift the net,” Cartonio said. 

It was only the second fish the couple caught that day after landing 12 the day before. They hadn’t fished that area of the lake in five years because the wind usually makes it difficult to fish there, he said. 

Although Cartonio typically releases his catches, this one was too exhausted to survive.

“We never keep fish. It broke my heart it wouldn’t swim away,” he said. “We tried for over 30 minutes to revive it.”

Instead, they decided to have it mounted.

“It’s been a special week for us,” Cartonio said. “Fishing is what we do.”