Fishing guide lands a whopper

A whopping 12.5kg (27.5lb) rainbow trout thought to be the largest caught in the Lake Tekapo area has been landed by Tekapo fishing guide Grant Brown. The monster trout was caught late at night in the Tekapo canal downstream of the power house and was in no hurry to be landed. Mr Brown said he had played the fish for 25 minutes before he even saw it, but it was another 15 before the trout gave up the fight.

While not the norm, big trout over 9kg have been caught on a number of occasions near the Tekapo canal salmon farm. The trout have grown to the exceptional sizes after feeding on excess food that drops below the salmon cages. Big trout from the canals are no stranger for Mr Brown as he has caught and released several over the 9kg mark. But, for him "they don't count as they are not a wild fish".

The record breaker was caught on a fly rod using an 3.6kg leader and a black woolly bugger. Mr Grant has caught wild fish in the 4-5kg range, has lost one estimated at more than 8kg and has seen a wild trout in the vicinity of 11kg - and just where that fish lives he's definitely not saying. The large fish is to be mounted and displayed permanently at the Tekapo Tavern.

Central South Island Fish and Game Council officer Mark Webb said it was the biggest trout he had heard of caught in the district and was exceptional. He described the canals as a unique fishery that were not repeated in the wild.