A photo was posted on the Flaming Gorge Resort’s Facebook page of Shane DuBois holding a giant lake trout that was caught ice fishing on the Wyoming site of the famous fishery last Friday and called it a “great catch” there she was only 44 inches tall.
The Casper Star Tribune followed with a brief description of the resort … but did DuBois actually tick the box? It’s complicated.
DuBois, a fishing guide, told USA Today / For The Win Outdoors that he was the one who caught the fish, but his client Chris Covell was the one who ultimately landed it. DuBois was in a separate fisherman’s hut when he joined; Covell was twenty yards away in another before joining DuBois.
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“Since I’ve been hooking and fighting the fish for a while, Chris wanted me to take a picture with it and I posted it on my Facebook. I was without service and started seeing it everywhere so passed my birthday [Monday] I contacted the outlets to correct the missing information on the story as I did not share it, ”explained DuBois.
As a result, the Star Tribune and the Flaming Gorge Resort have updated their reports to portray Covell (pictured below) as the fisherman who caught the fish. But the story has a lot more to offer.
DuBois fought the giant lake trout for a few minutes when it wound it up almost twice. As soon as he got the fish back under the hole, he passed the rod on to Covell, who fought it for another five to seven minutes. During this time something strange happened.
“The bait has shifted and we think the fish has come loose and then hooked back into the other corner of the mouth,” DuBois told For The Win Outdoors.
In that case, it could be argued that Covell actually hooked the giant himself and ended up doing it himself. OK, maybe that’s a stretch. But either way, it was an incredible catch (and release) that was close to the 1995 Wyoming length record of 48 inches.
“We actually took my hinged hut cover and made a sling out of it to safely weigh the fish, and we’re surprised it weighed only 38 pounds, 10 ounces,” DuBois told For The Win. “We were all sure it was over 40 pounds.”
That the catch was made in the first place is evidence of her persistence, giving it a few more minutes before it stops.
“We talked about big fish that I caught in the area about 10 minutes before catching this fish at 1pm after saying we should take another half an hour,” DuBois said.
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DuBois also stated, “I caught a fish of about the same size in this spot at about the same time last year and we looked at photos where we thought it might be the same fish I did on my day off caught last year. “
Just another twist on an incredible fish story.
Photos of Chris Covell sitting in a chair with HIS fish and Shane DuBois holding the same fish in front of a fishing hut courtesy of DuBois.
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