The big one that didn't get away

By Ken Maurer
For The Daily Item

April 27, 2008 07:12 am

— Andrew Frantz, 16, of Armstrong Valley, just south of Elizabethville has been trout fishing since he has been old enough to walk. An avid outdoorsman, Andrew also enjoys hunting and trapping. On March 29, he landed a fish that created a memory that will last a lifetime.
Pre-season scouting along Armstrong Creek near his home in Dauphin County revealed the presence of two exceptionally large golden rainbow trout. The trout were in the area that Andrew and his grandfather Fran Miller traditionally fished on opening day. The sight of those large fish in their favorite spot cemented the plan. Grandfather and grandson would get there early to make sure they had a spot. At midnight, they pulled into a field road beside the creek and settled in for an attempt at sleep. To their surprise, another vehicle was there already, and a campfire revealed that they were not alone in their pursuit of the big one. At 6 a.m., Fran and Andrew stepped out into the cold spring air to claim their spots at the hole. The campers had the upper end of the pool, while Andrew and his grandfather covered the lower section. The opening time of 8 a.m. finally came and Andrew began fishing. At the start, the big goldens were close to the head of the hole where Andrew could not fish for them effectively. By 9:30, however, one of the big goldens moved down to the lower section where Andrew could work his bait to him. Andrew had caught several trout on a variety of baits, rotating between nightcrawlers, salmon eggs and corn. The big golden, however, showed no interest in the entrees. Andrew then tied on a small silver Panther Martin spinner and made several casts to the fish. The big fish continued to show no interest, then on about the fifth cast, the huge golden surged forward and attacked the spinner. Andrew set the hook and the fight was on. A fish of such size is nearly uncontrollable on light tackle and four-pound test, but Andrew was able to stay with the fish in the small hole. Eventually the fish surged downstream, out of the hole and into the riffles below where Andrew followed and was able to beach the fish in shallow water. The grandfather/grandson team knew they had a special fish, and by mid-afternoon, a trip to the local sporting goods shop was in order. At Kell Brothers Sporting Goods Store, in Elizabethville, the big golden tipped the scales at 12 pounds, 3 ounces, and measured nearly 28 inches with an incredible 18 1/4 inch girth.
Andrew knew he had caught an exceptional fish, but didn't realize how exceptional until the following days at school when some of his friends told him that his fish was larger than the current state record for goldens, which stood at 11 pounds, 10 ounces. Andrew did some research on the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's Web site, and sure enough, his fish was definitely larger. A state record application was printed out and the fish was taken out of the freezer and hauled to the closest certified scales, the local Giant grocery store, at Halifax. On the certified scales, the giant golden weighed 12.06 pounds., more than enough to qualify as a new state record. To topple an existing record, the new record must weigh more than two ounces than the previous record.
71-year-old Fran Miller and his 16-year-old grandson, Andrew, will always have the special memory of that cold opening morning when they proved that the "big one" doesn't always get away.
But not for long
Andrew's fish would have qualified as a new state record, but unbelievably, a larger golden rainbow was taken around the same time. PF&BC personnel reported that a golden rainbow weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces, was taken in Carbon County from Mahoning Creek. At this writing, the Carbon County fish is slated to be the new state record.
How they got here
According to the PF&BC's Web site, the golden rainbow trout that are now stocked in Pennsylvania's waterways are descendants of a single female rainbow trout with a genetic mutation that produced a mixed golden and rainbow coloration. She was found in a West Virginia hatchery in 1954. Through selective breeding with normal rainbow trout, an all-gold, golden rainbow strain was developed. Starting in 1967, Pennsylvania hybridized the West Virginia Golden rainbow with normal rainbows and produced palomino trout.
The palomino strain eventually weakened, but in recent years the hybrid was selectively bred back closer to the original stronger, better colored golden rainbow trout. Pennsylvania's golden rainbow trout is a different species than the golden trout native to the mountains of California.
n Ken Maurer, Herndon, is a regular contributor to the Outdoor Section.

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