Storm Jammed Her Tip-Up, but Angler Still Landed a Trophy Brook Trout

Jada Wyman pulled a 5-pound, 1.5-ounce brook trout through the ice on Moosehead Lake on Jan. 23, the first brook trout she has ever caught, the Bangor Daily News reported. The fish measured 24 inches.

Wyman, now in her sixth winter of ice fishing on Moosehead, was using a Heritage tip-up baited with a live shiner. The trap had not signaled a bite: a storm had packed it with snow and frozen the spool in place. When she started hauling in the line, she felt strong tugs and fought the trout for about 15 minutes, at one point losing it back down the hole when it spun near the surface.

On the ice, she saw the fish had a crooked lower jaw, injuries to its head and body, and a small piece of its mouth missing where teeth would normally be.

Fishing was otherwise slow. Her father caught a salmon, which was released because salmon season does not open until Feb. 15.

Moosehead has a reputation for big brook trout, with anglers and biologists documenting several fish between 3 and more than 7 pounds in recent years, including a lake-record 7-pound, 10-ounce trout. The catch is also the largest fish Wyman has landed, and she plans to have a replica mount made.

This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.