news
Bryce Sisson from Prescott is an ardent angler who couldn’t get time off from work to do any trout fishing this year until last weekend.
The hard-working teenager made up for it on his first trout fishing trip this year by catching a new state record 22.9-pound, 36-inch long brown trout out of Reservation Lake located on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. The previous state record was a 16-pound, 7-ounce brown measuring 29.5 inches that was caught April 22, 1985 from Horseshoe-Cienaga Lake in the White Mountains.
Arizona Game and Fish Department officials said that the new record, once certified, will exceed the current one by slightly more than six pounds. "Our regional office in Pinetop has received the state record application by Sisson. However, the record does not become official until the application is processed and the State Record Certificate is signed by Game and Fish Director Duane Shroufe," explained Public Information Officer Rory Aikens.
Bryce caught the behemoth while fishing from a 3-man inflatable raft (that can only hold two people) at 6 p.m. Aug. 5. He was using a floating 4-inch Rapala (silver colored) on eight-pound line and a medium-weight Daiwa rod. The big fish pulled the little inflatable and Bryce around the cove for about 15 minutes before he got it landed.
Bryce’s father, who works for the Arizona Department of Transportation in Prescott, is exploring whether the 22.9-pound brown is a national record for line (8-pound) class.
Steve Sisson said the printed information on Reservation Lake recommends using Rapalas in the backs of coves to catch 10-plus-pound browns. "Bryce followed the recommendation, but what he caught was way over 10 pounds."
Mr. Sisson said Bryce hadn’t gotten to go trout fishing this year, until now, because of his job. "Then I injured my foot and couldn’t get out. Bryce just loves to fish, and will fish all night long if you let him. I started him fishing when he was four or five years old. We went to Goldwater Lake, he caught a bunch of bluegill, and has loved fishing ever since," he said.
When the phone call came from Bryce on Saturday morning, Mr. Sisson was at first concerned, then ecstatic. "You know how it is when you’re a parent. He was fishing with friends in the White Mountains, and all of a sudden I got this collect call from him. I immediately thought, uh-oh, what’s wrong. When he told him about the trout, it was unbelievably great. This is something so spectacular that it will stay with him for the rest of his life."
While this the largest fish Bryce has ever caught, he is no stranger to big fish. Bryce said that when he was young, he caught a bluegill that was one-inch over the state record, but was a few ounces lighter. Once on a trip to Florida, Bryce said he caught a 28-inch-long largemouth bass, which he immediately released so he didn’t get to weight it.
It may be tough to top this fishing feat, but Bryce is confident he will catch future record fish in the future. "I’m sure I will catch other record fish in the future, especially the big fish of the year records. This one may be tough to beat though," said the teen.
Game and Fish officials concur. "The previous brown trout record stood for 14 years and it was six pounds less than this one. This record, and Bryce Sisson’s name, may be in the record books for many, many years. It may even last a number of decades," Aikens predicted.
Uploaded: 8/12/1999
Uploaded: 8/12/1999