Trophy Jordanelle Brown caught during netting by DWR for their research project...

[iconoclasticPaul]

Here's the photo of a trophy brown still swimming around at Jordanelle... this is HUGE! This was let go to get even bigger!
[signature]

[Coldfooter]

Thats a sweety!! And it dont surprise me in the least knowing of some of the big Browns I seen my father haul out of the upper Provo back in the 60's.
[signature]

[ctizzfishin]

WOW, do you have any idea how much that fish weighs??? I cant wait to get up there and chase a fish like that....
[signature]

[mactuna]

Very nice Hog
[signature]

[Theekillerbee]

Now that is a pig!
[signature]

[Out4Trout]

[cool]That was probably 4 or 5 years ago and if I remember right, it was 32 inches and 21 pounds. I would think that that particular fish is dead now from old age, but I'm sure there's others in there just like it.

If you look hard enough, there's a thread on this site somewhere from back then (2004 or 2005) with a bunch of pics and comments.

BASSRODS was there assisisting the DWR that day, so hopefully he'll chime in here and tell what he remembers from that day...
[signature]

[Hooter_Patrol]

Well now you know why I chase those big old trophies.
It has taken me years to figure them out and I still only get lucky once in a while, Utah waters have some trophy browns not just in the nelle but all over Utah.[]
I think that picture was taken two or three years ago? .
The problem is most fisherman / women don't has the patients to fish for them?[crazy]
[signature]

[trout_slayer]

I remember a couple years ago of a few posts of people catching some over 15 lbs at the Nelle. I would love to nab one of them hogs!!!
TS
[signature]

[Hooter_Patrol]

[signature]

[Weekend_Warrior]

Whats the biggest fish you have caught out of there Hooter? I hear about people trolling big swimbaits there but that one you just posted is the biggest I have seen!!
[signature]

[santravler]

I've put that one back a couple of times.
[signature]

[fishinfool]

got any pics of that one?


PICS PICS PICS
[signature]

[Hooter_Patrol]

Hey WW.
The best I've done is about 8lbs I know I've had a few on that I've lost that was alot bigger but you have to get them in the boat and then take a picture and release it before you can say you stuck it right? [crazy]
But yes there are some big trophies Utah waters, but like I said earlier the state has some big browns in its waters,
you just have to work at it,
[signature]

[bigfishwanted]

Flaming gorge had some super huge browns.Who could tell me why they disappeared?
Hooter I think your going to catch your biggest this year.One more pass right.................................................[]


Rapalas R rated G for everyone............................[fishin]
[signature]

[Hooter_Patrol]

I think it got over fished in the late 1970 and then the stocking program was not that good so that is alot of what happened ? Plus the macks was eating the hell out of them also,
I still think they will make a come back just not like they was back then,
They still stick a few every year up there so it will happen sooner or later some one will get lucky up there,
hopefully it will be me !!!!!!!!!!!![angelic][]
Just one more pass, Just one more time.
But as long as they release it I'm okay with it.[]
[signature]

[lakextackle]

What will be cool is when you stick a 23.75" smallie on one of those ol'ac plugs. Now that would be worth talking about. Those big cutts at the berry will eat those big baits.
[signature]

[trout_slayer]

I remember reading a book that my Dad had about a guy that pretty much dedicated his life to catching those monster browns out of the Gorge. The book had to be about 200-300 pages with about half of them being picture of 25 lb - 35 lb browns. Sometimes he would have 4-8 of them laying in his lawn. He made his own lure (cant remember the name) and fished all year. Like you mentioned, this was back in the 70's-80's. If I remember right, I heard they lost money to continue stocking browns there and all the money went to the Macs and that is why there was such a decline in Big Browns in the Gorge. You may catch a monster in there but pretty rare these days. As far as a rebound in the Gorge for the browns I would almost doubt it with all the Big Macs and Burbot that are in there!!!
TS
[signature]

[curt69]

I think the guy you are talking about is Ray Johnson . The lures were called Johnson Real Minnow . Curt G.
[signature]

[mactuna]

Starvation forever, good Browns and Eye's
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I also lived in Utah during the days of the monster browns from Flaming Gorge...and met Ray Johnson a time or two. He was an "interesting" individual. He camped in caves around the lake in the middle of winter, and fished at night...trolling big Rapalas next to rock walls with six pound line and long rods. He developed his own line of lures and promoted them heavily, but he still caught most of his fish on Rapalas.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The browns got big and fat eating chubs. The Gorge was overrun with them at that time. When you pulled into a marina the water was brown with them. The big browns fed at night, one or two times a week. They would glut on chubs and then they wouldn't hit anything for a couple of days. You had to be in the right place at the right time....kinda like fishing for walleyes. It was really rare for anyone to hook a truly big brown during bright daylight hours.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The mack population exploded and they kinda mopped up the chubs. As it is everywhere, when you remove a primary forage base (chubs), the predators have to adapt. The macks switched to kokes, the browns just ate what they could find, and no longer grew so big. There are still browns in the lake but they do not have the overwhelming supply of chubs to fatten up on.[/#0000ff]
[signature]