Living in such a digital world has not only changed fishing and hunting; it has changed the way fishing stories are spread. What used to be taking an angler for his word has now become verified (or disproven) with detailed documentation of events that wouldn’t have occurred in the past. These stories are now often backed with pictures and videos, either proving an anglers story of how big a fish was, or the opposite, having others question, “did you measure or see that right?”
The first example to make national news, and fuel wild speculation, was Hogzilla in 2004 (shot and killed by Chris Griffin in Alapaha, Georgia). In the past few years we’ve had a potential world record tarpon released (Captain Justin Moore caught an estimated 300-pound plus tarpon off Anna Maria Island), and the largest cobia ever recorded (172-pound speared in Marataizes, Brazil). On top of that, we’ve seen a 14-foot hammerhead caught from the beach (caught and released by Viktor Hluben), and the first ever recorded albino blue marlin (caught and photographed in Los Suenos Marina, Costa Rica).
For Capt. Brett Sweeny, a bizarre occurrence has happened after posting a picture of one of the many huge trout he specializes in catching. If the stories were true, the large trout he caught on December 3rd, 2013 would currently be the IGFA world record at nearly 40-inches and 20-pounds plus.
That’s quite an accomplishment when the current all tackle record is 17-pounds 7-ounces, caught in Ft. Pierce, Florida.
“I have no clue where it started, and I tried to correct the story,” Sweeney said about the large trout, “but it seems no one wanted to hear the truth.”
The “story” originated after Sweeny posted a picture of a 30.25-inch trout that weighed over 10-pounds that was caught by Clayton Weesels with Capt. Sweeny on Facebook. Soon it was hitting forums, Facebook pages and text messages, growing with each successive posting.
“Social media seems to have a trend of exaggerating things to what people want to believe is out there,” Sweeny said. One blog titled it “40-inch trout caught in Laguna Madre”. Another forum posting was titled “39-inch trout in Baffin Bay”. Sweeny is one of the best at catching huge trout, but 40-inches is unheard of.
He specializes in wading the expansive Texas flats to target trophy-sized fish. Sharing a bit of advice on how he does it, anglers can apply this information to their local waters. “Wading is an advantage to get shallower and fish ‘sweet spots’ at a proper casting angle and cover areas quietly and more efficiently,” Sweeny explained. “Spring in March and April is usually the time of year to catch the heaviest of fish. Fish move shallow, tides are good and lots of bait shows back up in bays. Moon phases play a huge roll in trout fishing. The best days seem to be the days leading up to the big dark moons while the backside of the moon seems to get tougher. Big trout feed in small windows of time and you have to be in front of them when that time occurs.”
For someone who targets big trout, I find it fascinating to listen to the experts like Capt. Brett, and see how much detail goes into their fishing plans. And, for someone who is daily scouring the Internet for fishing photos, tips, advice, and stories, I find it fascinating how quickly a fishing story can escalate.
As the late Paul Harvey would say now you know “the rest of the story”…
