Jean-Philippe Lartigue of Bethesda holds the new Maryland record for rainbow trout fishing thanks to his recent catch of a 17.44-pound trout Feb. 10.
He beat the previous 1987 record by more than three pounds.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recognized Lartigue after he caught the fish in the section of Antietam Creek that runs through Devil’s Backbone County Park in Washington County.
He used a long, 12-foot crappie-style rod, spinning reel, eight-pound test monofilament line, a small split-shot weight, and a No. 8 hook baited with a natural worm bait, according to the DNR.
Lartigue was a fisheries biologist consulting with governments in Africa before retiring. Lartigue is French and originally from Morocco, where he learned from his father the European style of fishing natural baits with long rods for trout.
“I knew the fish was a very large trout, but I did not see how big it was at the beginning of the fight,” Lartigue said in a news release.
“I finally saw the fish, and it made two very long runs to the opposite side of the creek and was hard to move. I also had to keep the fish away from some bridge abutments, which could have cut the line easily. . . . After a very long 30-minute fight, I was able to tire out the fish and grabbed it by the jaw with my fingers since I did not have a landing net large enough.”
Lartigue then slid the fish onto a rocky bank, cutting his finger in the process from the fish’s teeth.
The fish measured 32 inches long. Its weight was determined on a certified scale at Ernst’s Country Market in Clear Spring. DNR’s director of freshwater fisheries and hatcheries, John Mullican, confirmed the species.
The catch shatters the previous record of 14.2 pounds caught by Dave Schroyer on October 21, 1987.
“We are extremely impressed by the weight of the fish, which bests the old record by over 3 pounds, a record that many of us in the department thought would never be broken,” said Recreational Fisheries Outreach Coordinator Erik Zlokovitz in the news release.
⭐ NEW MARYLAND STATE FISHING RECORD: Montgomery County Angler Catches Maryland State Record Rainbow Trout
Long-standing record beaten by fish caught in Antietam Creek, Devil’s Backbone https://t.co/RMFr1FY5Ka pic.twitter.com/viFCYMaPhm
— Maryland DNR (@MarylandDNR) February 13, 2024
