Late last month, an Arizona fisherman by the name of Carl Erickson reeled in one heck of a catch.
On a crisp June 22nd morning, Erickson threw out a crankbait and hoped for the best. Little did he know that he would be leaving Woods Canyon Lake with a new state record thanks to the tiger trout he ended up reeling in.
The hybrid trout measured in at just over 23 inches long, and was a only a couple of ounces away from crossing the six pound threshold. Funny enough, the Tiger Trout is the second of its species in the past year to set a new state record.
There must be something in the water out at Woods Canyon Lake…
The Arizona Department of Fish and Wildlife took to their Facebook account last week to announce the exciting accomplishment, and made the 5 pound, 15.4 ounce weight official.
Their post, which made a Tony the Tiger joke, stated:
“This Tiger Trout is Grrreat! Even more than that, it’s a new state record! Caught on crawdad crank-bait by a very happy Mr. Carl Erickson at Woods Canyon Lake, this beauty weighed in at 5 pounds and 15.4 ounces, and measured 23.5 inches long. Congrats Carl!”
Erickson told the AZDFG that he utilized a crankbait that mimicked a crawfish, with a yellow side and a short bill. Turns out that Tiger Trout like to go after crawfish, which worked out exceptionally well for Carl.
And you know what, shoutout to Carl for reeling this thing in. Take a quick look again at the picture of him above and tell me that isn’t the best day of his life.
There’s a good chance that Carl has children, but if you asked him what the highlights of his years on this Earth are, catching this fish would be number one, and any other significant, cliche answer to that question would follow behind.
Everyone in the comments of the Facebook post were a part of the “Carl Erickson Fan Club” as well, leaving supportive remarks like:
“Stoked for Carl! Congrats sir on the King Tiger.”
“Wowza. That’s a huge trout to land. Congratulations!”
“That was a fun fight I bet you.”
“That’s a beauty!!! Bet you had fun reeling him in!”
You bet he had fun reeling it in, it was the undisputed best day of his life.
