Difficult to get certified as a world record if you release it before weighing in. If you can keep it alive for weigh in and then release it would be a good thing. Let it get bigger and someone else can maybe catch it again? But lets not beat the guy up for keeping it bigjake! He caught it legally EH?

Congrats on a wonderful fish!!!

You folks from Colorado need to come and fish Michigans rivers, streams, and lakes if you want trout like this!!! Not bad field and stream- but you should have seen the live footage from michigans 9&10 news team on wednesday!!

If you'll read the entire story, it stated the guide's boga grip bottomed out. Besides three big ones devour 10 little one apiece each week. Do you want fish in the future? Weed out the big ones then. If probably took the guy nearly 70 years to find this one. There will be others.....good luck all, be sure to give something back.

man what a monster

Thats huge!

It is a nice fish. There is another one out there that is bigger. We just need to find it!!

Oh my god! Surely a lake run fish but still ...oh my god!

I have not killed a fish in 25 years, but I too would have wacked that fish and certified the world record. Think of the endorsment$. If he didn't kill it, he would have been just another Rompala Buck story. I for one would have claimed trick photography or something. Plus, killing that one fish will not make one bit of difference in the health of the fishery. In fact, that fish probably routinely snacked on "smallish" 20+ inch browns.

cravenmorefish, big fish especially large female fish are the best breeding stock.Bigger fish=better genetics+higher egg production

congrats....that is an amazing fish

First off, congrats to Tom and his guide, Tim.

To those criticizing the "murder" of this fish you should know a few things about the Manistee River, as your ignorance on the origin of this fish, and the fishery itself do not warrant your comments. This is not a resident trout but one that migrated in and out of Lake Michigan. The Manistee has limited natural reproduction of brown trout due to "thermal pollution" caused by a hydroelectric dam that pulls surface water (as opposed to a "bottom draw"). The water commonly exceeds 70 degrees during the summer. The fishery exists mostly due to hatchery plants both in the river and the Port of Manistee itself. Lastly, a brown trout of this proportion is very likely approaching the end of its life, and sexual fecundity. Its well documented that the largest, and oldest, fish of a species does not always produce the highest quality, or quantity. of eggs. So, I don't think that this one fish was going to "save the fishery" as it doesn't need saving.

I sense a lot of jealousy in reading these comments, particularly when people lambast Mr. Healy for keeping his record fish. I would venture to guess that the vast majority of Tim Roller's clients release their fish so we are talking about one fish out of th hundreds his clients catch and release throughout the year. Unfortunately, some people feel a sense of superiority in regards to their catch and release "ethic". Statistically speaking, odds our good that this NON-NATIVE brown trout was conceived in a hatchery. Sometimes we all forget about our artifical fisheries.

Likw my mother always told me, "if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all".

Very nice catch... That 10 times the size the type of brown trout I catch.

i guess he's not into catch and release.

Umm...I would like to seconed thiggy78's opnion!

Awesome fish! Congratulations on a new record!

I would have put that fish right in a cooler( a huge cooler) just to have. That fish was ready to be taken out of the water. Something that big has to eat alot, and alot of people are saying killing it would disrupt the fish population. Well, they are right to a point, but it didnt hurt in anyway. Think about the fish it was eating...... Stop acting like this guy caught something that was the last of its kind. ITS A BROWN TROUT. I caught 20 some in about 2 hours. But this is a huge fish and I can only hope to catch a trout that size some day. Congats on the trophy. Hope you put that above the fireplace.

That's one hell of a fish. This should be a wake up call to those managing the trout streams in Missouri and Arkansas. We no longer have the world record, and we need to get it back... I'm calling for a 30" minimum on browns region-wide.

Well put flyfishMI.
Good to see the record being held in MI.

great job,no doubt you deserve that catch,thats one fish u aint gonna forget

I live a short walk from Tippy on the Big Manistee. I was deployed when this fish was caught and I heard wind of it half way around the world. I have been home for 7 months now and glad to be back. As far as the Monster Brown, nice fish, great job. Even as this is a monster, remember that the state record has been broke three times in the last 10 years. That’s just the registered catches. I have caught a few state record browns in my lifetime here but never motivated enough to register. I would like to add several years ago every spring I would line at least one walleye over 20lbs EVERY spring. While the walleye fishery struggles here, the browns still thrive. The browns are strictly a stocked fishery in the Manistee. Even with the tributaries, not much natural reproduction occurs. Within a week after a hen moves off her bed (whitish gravel) the bed begins to get covered in silt and algae mostly due to fertilizer runoff and the excess nitrogen from dead salmon. Within two weeks, the bed is completely black totally covered and suffocates the eggs. There is no taking eggs for hatching these Big Manistee monsters. With all the snaggers here this fish had NO CHANCE. So its nice to see this fish taken legal. I consider the river browns to be a nuisance. I like catching big fish and at times its very hard to keep 10-18inch trout off my line. They also taste like the river so no point in keeping. These lake run fish are very tasty and there is no shortage of them. At the mouth this spring I was sorting through them. Most average 3-5lbs. I let go the small ones and keep nothing but 12lbs+ and limit out every time. The biggest one this year so far was about 30lbs. Great eating fish too. I have no shame in it. After all its legal. It was sustenance provided by mother earth with a little helping hand from us. Now if you want huge river monsters that taste like garbage, write to the Michigan senator and get the ball rolling on the bottom draw at tippy. I promise 50lb+ within several years with bottom draw. Maybe a 30lb rainbow too.

I hope it was released...doubtful but one can always hope.

No need to MURDER the fish.....

Invest a few bucks in a boga grip and send it in to the IGFA for Certification

You can weigh the fish, take the necessary photos and release it. Still get your world record recogntion.

Spend a few bucks and save the fishery.....