Lake Burton Record Rainbow Trout Caught Trolling

This rainbow came from Lake Burton and was caught by Darryl Stephens, of Brooks, on July 12. The fish weighed 5 1/2 pounds and tied the existing lake record. The full story is at www.gon.com/news/lake-burton-record-rainbow-trout-caught-trolling.

Darryl Stephens was fishing at Lake Burton with his wife on July 12 when he reeled in a 5-lb., 8-oz. rainbow trout, which creates a first-place tie for biggest rainbow ever recorded from this north Georgia reservoir. The other record trout from Burton was caught on July 24, 2016.

The husband-and-wife fishing duo got on the lake around 6 p.m. and made their way to the dam. About 7, Darryl began trolling with a Rapala when the big fish hit.

“It put up a pretty good fight,” said Darryl. “I got him up to the side of the boat and realized how big it was. My scale didn’t have batteries in it. So when we went to bring it in, we had to have an older couple weigh it. It was right about the record size, so I put it on ice that night.

“The next day I really thought it lost quite a bit of weight, which it probably did lose a little.”

While he was contemplating whether or not to take the time to go put it on certified scales, his wife was not.

“I was reluctant to bring it in,” said Darryl. “The wife said, ‘You have to take that in and get it checked out,’ so I did,” said Darryl.

Darryl can thank his wife for the fact that he now shares a lake record.

Lake Burton offers a unique reservoir trout fishery for Georgia. For more info on techniques to catch Burton trout, see this article from 2006.

Click here to see the Lake Burton Page, with official lake records, current and archived fishing reports, and features and news articles about Lake Burton.