Augusta man pulls in his fish of a lifetime

Duane Tobias was really out testing a new motor when he decided he should try out his new fishing rods too.

Within 10 minutes, he had a 10.2-pound brown trout on the line — a personal best for him in a lifetime of fishing.

Tobias of Augusta was fishing alone on a favorite lake in Kennebec County, although he usually fishes with his longtime friend Roger Moody. The two 60-year-old men are bonded by fishing, but also because they were born on the exact same day.

“He’s my life coach,” Tobias said.

Tobias had two colors and almost a third of lead-core line out in 40-50 feet of water when the big brown hit the smelt on his treble hook. He heard a big splash behind the boat and stuck his net into the water. The trout almost swam into it, but bolted when it saw the net.

The fisherman had a 4-pound test leader attached to a 6-pound leader that was secured to the lead-core line. The 4-pound leader broke just as Tobias scooped the fish into the net and dropped him into the boat. The fish didn’t fit in the triangular rubber net.

“I don’t know how I landed that fish (on the line I had). If I had lost it, I would have given up fishing for the week,” he said.

The fish was just shy of 30 inches long, weighed 10.2 pounds and had a 16-inch girth.

It was the biggest fish he has ever caught and the thickest one he has held in his hands, he said.

Tobias usually does catch and release and wanted to let this fish go. He took a photo and tried to release the fish back into the water, but ultimately it did not revive. Tobias will have it mounted instead.

He had found a piece of driftwood at shore before launching his boat that looked amazingly like the fish he ended up catching. He said he had thought at the time that if he caught a fish that big, the driftwood would make a great mount for it.

And that is just where his brown trout will be mounted.