Pa Record Trout

They found out.
Hutchinson fished all morning without landing a trout. At about 1:30 in the afternoon, though, when some other fishermen cleared out, he crossed the stream to fish in the area where he had seen the big golden the night before.
Within five minutes, he had hooked that fish, his "log."
"When it topped the water, holy cow, did it roll," Hutchinson said. "Then it started swimming toward me, so I had to reel really fast. That was good, though, because I was only using 4-pound test."
Hutchinson landed the fish, then took it to Keystone Bait and Tackle in Shelocta to have it weighed.
"It was a beautiful fish. But I don't have certified scales, so I sent him to Goodman's," said Pam Warr.
Mike Goodman of Goodman's Bait and Tackle in Ford City weighed and measured the fish. He preliminarily pegged the fish at 31 1/2 inches long, with a 19 1/2-inch girth. It weighed 13.75 pounds.
Because that is heavier than the existing state record -- an 11-pound, 10-ounce fish pulled from Lake Erie by Greensburg angler R.W. Hafer in 1986 -- Hutchinson contacted the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
Waterways conservation officer Matt Sodmont took the fish and officially weighed and measured it Monday. It had shrunk a little -- to 30 1/2 inches long and 13 pounds, 4 ounces -- but it's still poised to become a new record.
"I knew it was big when we stocked it, but I didn't think it was quite that big," said Sodmont. "I thought it had a chance to be a record, but I didn't think it would be that much heavier."
The fish is not officially a new record just yet. There's a review process Hutchinson's application must go through, said Emil Svetahor, manager of the commission's southwest region office.
"It's a big one, for sure, but until Harrisburg does its thing, it's still just a possible record," Svetahor said.
Ironically enough, another angler fishing in southeastern Pennsylvania caught a 12-pound golden rainbow March 29 when trout season opened in 18 counties there. He applied for the record, too.
Now, though, before the review of his catch has even been completed, it seems Hutchinson's fish is poised to pass it.
Hutchinson mailed his record application Friday. It will likely take a few weeks to anoint him the record holder, Svetahor said.
In the meantime, Hutchinson is looking for a taxidermist to help him get the fish mounted. And he's still enjoying his catch.
"I'm as high as a kite right now," he said.