TONASKET, Wash. — An Idaho angler has set a new state record for the largest tiger trout caught in Washington.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed the catch of an 18.49-pound tiger trout measuring 32.5 inches at Bonaparte Lake in Okanogan County on May 5 by Kelly Flaherty of Priest River, Idaho.
He was fishing with a worm and egg.
“The fish skyrocketed out of the water,” said Flaherty, 53, who was fishing from a boat launch. “As soon as I hooked it, I was whooping it up, while a crowd gathered around the whole time.”
Flaherty estimates it took him 15 minutes to land the fish from the time he set the hook until he pulled his prize onto the boat launch without a landing net.
