A Montgomery County man has caught a Maryland state record rainbow trout in a portion of Antietam Creek that runs through Devil’s Backbone County Park in Washington County, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
According to the Maryland DNR, Jean-Philippe Lartigue of Bethesda, is now the new state record holder for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Nontidal Division after catching a 17.44-pound rainbow trout on Saturday, February 10. It broke the record previously set by Dave Schroyer in 1987 by more than three pounds (14.2 pounds).
Lartigue was fishing with a long, 12-foot crappie-style rod, spinning reel, eight-pound test monofilament line, a small split-shot weight, and a No. 8 hook baited with a natural worm bait when he hooked the massive rainbow trout.
Lartigue worked as a fisheries biologist consulting with governments in Africa before he retired and settled in Maryland, where he is an avid angler. Lartigue is French and originally from Morocco, where he learned from his father the European style of fishing natural baits with long rods for trout. The long rod helps to control the drift and presentation of natural baits in swift stream currents.
Read more about it here.
🎣 Wow, Bethesda's own Jean-Philippe Lartigue reeled in a new MD record with a 17.44lb rainbow trout from Antietam Creek! 🐟 A tip of the hat for a catch that outdid a 1987 record by over 3 pounds. What a legendary fish tale! 📸 @MarylandDNR
🔗 https://t.co/gv5tIA1yVb pic.twitter.com/bvC7FNVnwd
— Montgomery County MD Government (@MontgomeryCoMD) February 13, 2024