Real Big Fish

Man reels in record fish

'BLUE MESA RESERVOIR - A man from Florence, Colorado will be telling his fish tale for a very long time.

He now holds the record for catching the biggest lake trout in Colorado. The fish weighs a whopping 50 lbs. 5 oz.

Don Walker caught the fish on May 23 at Blue Mesa Reservoir. It's located about 10 miles west of Gunnison. Walker has been fishing there since the reservoir opened back in 1965.

He has caught many lake trout, but none quite like this one.

Walker says he had been fishing since 6 a.m. and was about to call it quits for the day, when he saw the giant trout on his depth finder, a sonar device.

"When you hook on to a big fish like this, you know it's big, but you just don't know how big it is until you can get it up to where you can see it," says Walker. "After about 25 minutes of fighting it, and finally you get it up, and then you see how big it is, then it takes my partner to net it."

Walker's fishing partner is his wife of 38 years, Paula Walker. She's been fishing with him ever since they met. Walker says she did a pretty good job of netting this one.

However, Paula was worried the fish would break the pole.

"Well I had the pole, it was bent double," said Walker. "My wife thought, she says, 'Boy it's going to break your pole.' I says, 'No it aint.' So, that's why you use the good stuff."

Another family member was also there that day to help out. Walker's brother-in-law was about 50 feet away in his boat, and rushed over.

The brother-in-law also happens hold the previous record for catching the biggest lake trout in Colorado. He caught a 46 lb. 14 oz. fish four years ago. Walker remembers because he was there that day to help him.

Walker says his secret to fishing is long hours and a lot of patience. He is a strong supporter of catch and release when it comes to fishing. He says although he wanted to, he couldn't release this one because he had to drive it 25 miles away to be weighed and certified.

The giant lake trout is now at a local taxidermist office to be stuffed and mounted. Walker plans to hang his prize right above his fire place.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife says Walker's lake trout might be the biggest fish ever caught in Colorado. The DOW also says from now until July is a good time to fish for Kokanee Salmon and Brown Trout at Blue Mesa.

The reservoir is the largest body of water in Colorado.

Walker, who is 61, says he thinks the fish was between 30 and 40 years old.'