The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) has approved a new Men’s 4kg (8lb) Line Class World Record brown trout of 17.75kg, caught in Twizel’s Ōhau Canal on April 15, 2025.

Angler Paul Rahman was fishing after midnight when he hooked his trophy. The big fish took 30 minutes to bring in, with Paul diving into the water to wrangle his fish to shore. The fish’s weight was recorded on Paul’s certified scales before release.

Paul lives ‘over the ditch’ but has travelled to Twizel to pursue the region’s famed oversized trout for more than a decade.

"We do a lot of night fishing for the big brown trout, so we'll find fish in the water and then come back later on... Sometimes it might take the first cast and other times it might take hours. It's very effective but can be very frustrating," he said.

"Most of our fishing is between 8pm and 4am. All those big browns come out on the edges and they start feeding."

The Ōhau Canal is part of the Mackenzie Basin hydrocanal system, which is recognised as a world-class trophy trout fishery. The current all-tackle world record brown trout came from the same waters in 2020, weighing 20.1kg.

- NZ Fishing News