# Massive Rainbow Trout from Mad river!!



## Dillon.R.Nott

Was wading around this morning since school was cancelled... lol. Couldn’t resist fishing i’ve had a Trout itch bothering me for awhile so decided to head out today. Tried flies around for awhile and only one creek chub. I threw on a VMC tingler spoon odd enough, those things work GREAT in open water. Super slow fall. Casted by a bunch of trees and logs by a bridge that must’ve got there by flooding and i saw my line jump and set the hook. I thought i was snagged at first then saw this thing flash. I was shaking. Every trout i’ve pulled from the Mad has never been bigger than 15”. Plus this was a Rainbow which someone must’ve put it in there awhile ago. Fish of a lifetime for little town in ohio! 24” and 4 pounds !!!



































i wear a size 13 shoe to for size reference!


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## polebender

Superb! Great job! I bet you would have rather been in school though?!


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## Dillon.R.Nott

polebender said:


> Superb! Great job! I bet you would have rather been in school though?!


Hahaha of course


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## Dillon.R.Nott

Also to be clear i did not want to keep this fish, i am very supportive in letting the big fish swim another day and really don’t like keeping large fish ( selective harvest) but this trout got the worst of the hook and wasn’t going to make it so decided to bring home.


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## whitebass

nice catch


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## Snakecharmer

Nice chunky fish. Great Job!!!!!!


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## Flathead76

I'm impressed. Awesome fish!


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## firemanmike2127

Awesome catch !! What a great way to start the 2019 fishing season. Mike


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## Shortdrift

Great catch and thanks for the description and sharing.


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## Dillon.R.Nott

Yeah but seriously those VMC Tingler spoons are killer. Everyone uses them for vertical jigging but they are great for casting. Caught everything from trout to hybrid strippers to yellow perch on those things


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## acklac7

Great catch & report


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## Dillon.R.Nott

This may sound silly but could this be a record for Mad River? I can’t find any records for the Mad river inself, only Ohio records. In which all trout records come from Lake Erie, which all those trout are like 20 pounders. But I can let decide if i should get this fish mounted or should i put it on the smoker.


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## Saugeyefisher

Great catch! What ever you decide to do with it,enjoy it! Smoked trout is pretty awesome.


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## BWW

That is an amazing fish! Well done. I think your scale may be a little light.

Smoke it & get a reproduction. Google Lax Reproductions. They do beautiful work.


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## Flathead76

Dillon.R.Nott said:


> This may sound silly but could this be a record for Mad River? I can’t find any records for the Mad river inself, only Ohio records. In which all trout records come from Lake Erie, which all those trout are like 20 pounders. But I can let decide if i should get this fish mounted or should i put it on the smoker.


For there it's a very rare trophy. You might regret not getting it mounted latter. Plus it has cool markings. The tail looks like a brown trout.


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## Dillon.R.Nott

The fish is getting mounted. Can’t wait to see the finished work. I’ll send pictures here when it’s done but it’ll be awhile. Thanks for all the support guys


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## Workingman

Nice fish Dillon, congrats!


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## Dillon.R.Nott

Also recent measurement was on the grip thing, buddy brought over his electronic scale, this trout is 6.4 Pounds!!!!!!


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## 93stratosfishnski

insane i grew up in urbana and used to be excited to catch them 17 and 18 inches


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## Muddy

Nice trout. I wonder if it came from one of the trout clubs?


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## Dillon.R.Nott

93stratosfishnski said:


> insane i grew up in urbana and used to be excited to catch them 17 and 18 inches


Definitely a fish of a lifetime! Most of the time i can barely get one above 15”. This was unreal


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## Shortdrift

I'm sure the fishing in the area you caught that fish will improve as BIG TROUT EAT LITTLE TROUT


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## midoh39

Nice catch man! Really a fish of a life time out of the Mad!


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## Muddy

Shortdrift said:


> I'm sure the fishing in the area you caught that fish will improve as BIG TROUT EAT LITTLE TROUT


I was thinking the same thing. That fish was probably eating some of the stockers.


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## mashunter18

Sweet fish man, 6 pounds sounds a little better.


Someone mentioned the trout clubs stocking, not sure what's stocked in the mad river. But my young nephew got picked for Castilia and they had brown trout mixed in there, not very many that I saw. They said they swim in from one of the trout clubs that stocks them. If they dont stock rainbows in the mad, I'm certain that was a local club stocker.
There was one bigger pig brown,at Castilia I kept trying to catch, but it was very hard
due to the fish swarmed anything that hit the water.


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## Dillon.R.Nott

I also wonder if the Freshwater Farms have anything to do with this. Their main fish is Rainbow trout so maybe they parter with a club and stock the mad? I know rainbows are rare in the Mad so this must’ve been a one time thing or a “ oopsie “ lol


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## $diesel$

Nice catch, Dillon. Could it be an old, released hatchery fish?


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## Dillon.R.Nott

$diesel$ said:


> Nice catch, Dillon. Could it be an old, released hatchery fish?


That’s my guess


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## Muddy

There are several trout clubs along the Mad, such as Briarwood, that have man made spring fed pond/canal systems. That trout looks like it could quite possibly be a pond raised fish. It’s very hard for a trout to get that size in the Mad. Who knows though. It’s a nice fish wherever it came from.


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## Bleeding Minnow

great catch! how was the fight? my only reference is erie tributary steelhead and they go ballistic. time to update your avatar.


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## Dillon.R.Nott

Bleeding Minnow said:


> great catch! how was the fight? my only reference is erie tributary steelhead and they go ballistic. time to update your avatar.


The fight was amazing. When i first hooked it, the fish had some massive headshakes and rolls. At first sounded kinda like realing in a wet rug. Then it got close to shore and jetted off. Drag was burning. Almost felt like being in a Carp. It would get close to shore, then peel drag and dart out into the current again. Only had 15 lb braid and 10 lb fluoro. Don’t know how it didn’t break off with that cheap stuff. I took my time with her and she never gave up lol. Finally i had to gut up and drag her up on the bank and pin her down like i was in WWE. LOL


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## bman

Nice fish! I’ve caught a few bows myself in the Mad but never one like that one! Great job and congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## riverKing

Dillon.R.Nott said:


> This may sound silly but could this be a record for Mad River? I can’t find any records for the Mad river inself, only Ohio records. In which all trout records come from Lake Erie, which all those trout are like 20 pounders. But I can let decide if i should get this fish mounted or should i put it on the smoker.


While a very nice fish, it is not a record rainbow for the mad. I would say smoke it, mounts are expensive and skin mounts go bad anyway.
As someone mentioned above, this fish is an escapee from a trout club, but it looks like it has stayed healthy in the river.


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## allbraid

Wow! Great fish!


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## zaraspook

Dillon.R.Nott said:


> View attachment 289679
> Was wading around this morning since school was cancelled... lol. Couldn’t resist fishing i’ve had a Trout itch bothering me for awhile so decided to head out today. Tried flies around for awhile and only one creek chub. I threw on a VMC tingler spoon odd enough, those things work GREAT in open water. Super slow fall. Casted by a bunch of trees and logs by a bridge that must’ve got there by flooding and i saw my line jump and set the hook. I thought i was snagged at first then saw this thing flash. I was shaking. Every trout i’ve pulled from the Mad has never been bigger than 15”. Plus this was a Rainbow which someone must’ve put it in there awhile ago. Fish of a lifetime for little town in ohio! 24” and 4 pounds !!!
> View attachment 289679
> View attachment 289681
> View attachment 289683
> View attachment 289685
> View attachment 289687
> i wear a size 13 shoe to for size reference!


Freakin' amazing! Gorgeous catch!


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## rickerd

Eat that gorgeous fish!
I got a replica mount of my 11# walleye in 1998, It still looks amazing as the day I received it. I have a buddy who has (2) bass done in 2002, a 10# and an 11#er. He had to have his repainted last year because they disintegrate over time. 

Matt Yernatich did my walleye. Here is his website;
http://www.artisticanglers.com/

He was on the MonsterQuest show showing off his Musky replicas.
Rickerd


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## webby

Beautiful fish. We vacation at a lake in New Hampshire and haven't caught any near that size. If it were me I would do a picture mount and throw it on the smoker. You can have the best of both worlds.


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## mad_river

Congrats !!! That's a great mad river fish. 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## Saugeye Tom

Drn. Most beautymious


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## OldSoldier

Dillon.R.Nott said:


> View attachment 289679
> Was wading around this morning since school was cancelled... lol. Couldn’t resist fishing i’ve had a Trout itch bothering me for awhile so decided to head out today. Tried flies around for awhile and only one creek chub. I threw on a VMC tingler spoon odd enough, those things work GREAT in open water. Super slow fall. Casted by a bunch of trees and logs by a bridge that must’ve got there by flooding and i saw my line jump and set the hook. I thought i was snagged at first then saw this thing flash. I was shaking. Every trout i’ve pulled from the Mad has never been bigger than 15”. Plus this was a Rainbow which someone must’ve put it in there awhile ago. Fish of a lifetime for little town in ohio! 24” and 4 pounds !!!
> View attachment 289679
> View attachment 289681
> View attachment 289683
> View attachment 289685
> View attachment 289687
> i wear a size 13 shoe to for size reference!


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## OldSoldier

Magnificent fish! You can be very proud! How long did you play this fish?


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## Dillon.R.Nott

OldSoldier said:


> Magnificent fish! You can be very proud! How long did you play this fish?


Probably took 10 - 15 minutes to get her in. Very fun fight for sure


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## OldSoldier




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## Barry Pringle

Nice steelhead.


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## Terry R Magnuson

Dillon.R.Nott said:


> View attachment 289679
> Was wading around this morning since school was cancelled... lol. Couldn’t resist fishing i’ve had a Trout itch bothering me for awhile so decided to head out today. Tried flies around for awhile and only one creek chub. I threw on a VMC tingler spoon odd enough, those things work GREAT in open water. Super slow fall. Casted by a bunch of trees and logs by a bridge that must’ve got there by flooding and i saw my line jump and set the hook. I thought i was snagged at first then saw this thing flash. I was shaking. Every trout i’ve pulled from the Mad has never been bigger than 15”. Plus this was a Rainbow which someone must’ve put it in there awhile ago. Fish of a lifetime for little town in ohio! 24” and 4 pounds !!!
> View attachment 289679
> View attachment 289681
> View attachment 289683
> View attachment 289685
> View attachment 289687
> i wear a size 13 shoe to for size reference!


Nice fish. By the looks of it, it looks more than 4 lbs calculate your measurements to get a better idea. My dad had one a little longer and and a bit fatter that was 8.6. Looks great on a wall though .


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## Dillon.R.Nott

Terry R Magnuson said:


> Nice fish. By the looks of it, it looks more than 4 lbs calculate your measurements to get a better idea. My dad had one a little longer and and a bit fatter that was 8.6. Looks great on a wall though .


Yeah my buddy brought over a electronic scale and it measured at 6.6


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## EnonEye

ha, ha, crack me up young man, out there in this stuff you are a fishin fool but the best fishing is when the weather is trying to kill you (at least in Ohio). That is one cool bow. Would love to see it in spawn. I'd get it replicated (in awesome spawning colors) and smoke her. NICE!


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## Dillon.R.Nott

Just now realized i didn’t post this pic, this was the pic i got about 10 minutes after i caught it. Fish was already on its last straw so no one shame me for the grippers and grass Lol


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## GalionLex

Great fish. Love your passion for fishing/outdoors !!!!! Unfortunately most kids your age would stay inside on a snow day from school. You were justly rewarded !!!!!!! Good job.


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## david tennant

Hell of a catch!
Get a replica made and smoke that puppy


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## Snyd

Awesome catch Dillon! Congrats!


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## Gottagofishn

Beautiful catch! As others have stated, a graphite reproduction should suffice for the wall. I have both types of mounts and honestly, the memories are the same for either.


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## Fish-N-Fool

Great fish! Others have said it but I also have had Artistic Anglers make replicas of a 13-3 walleye and a just under 2lb OH white crappie from a gravel pit. Both are great.

I don't trout fish, but have lived near the Mad nearly all my life. As stated definitely not a river record, but awesome none the less! Two of my late uncles spent 25 years trapping along the Mad and 45 years each fishing it. One in particular was a trout man but not in the "traditional" sense as he fished spoons and live bait on spinning reels. They both frequently carried and kept pole's around when working the trap lines. I've seen loads of huge browns over the years and also some giant bows. With all the fish that get "put" into the Mad many of these giant fish certainly didn't reach their maturity and size living in the river.

I don't trout fish, but I kayak the Mad frequently. I know of a few spots that hold the massive trout year round. I fact, there are holes far south of the "traditional" trout grounds where the river is larger and deeper (12-15 ft pools) housing huge trout year round. Summer time I see them in the rifle below one particular hole and they are just huge. I always think about trying to fish for them but never make the time.

OT - back in the mid 80's one of these uncles was running his line along the Mad and spotted 2 pike larger than anything he'd ever caught (he used to go north and fish too). He went back to his truck and grabbed a pole and a large treble hook and snagged both of them (yea I know - but giving the honest version here). I was a little kid but always remember these giant pike. He kept them in a trapping freezer in the garage for like 2 years. People would come over to see them. They were absolutely massive and were nearly the full length of a large chest freezer. I just remember him saying he wasn't sure where they came from.


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## goatfly

Very nice fish for the Mad. Has to be a fish from the trout club upriver, they don't stock rainbows. Not even close to a record, they used to stock the big breeders from the fish farm. That was back in the 80's, some of those fish were over 8 lbs.


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## Fisherman 3234

Awesome job!!!


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## Lundfun

I have a feeling you are going to catch a lot of trophy fish in your lifetime! Most kids would be sitting on the couch playing xbox or something similar. Nice fish!


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## reyangelo

Very awesome catch and good looking fish. Sounds like a great experience.


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