Angler Catches ‘Fish Of A Lifetime’ To Set New State Record In Idaho

Daily Caller ^ | July 06, 2026 | Andrew Powell Sports Reporter

[Red Badger]

I’m seeing this just days before my vacation … I hope this is a sign.

A Georgia angler took a trip to Idaho for some fishing at the iconic South Fork Snake River, putting a target on trout that ultimately led her to a new state record. The angler, Caroline Langdale, had a bit of a battle with the record-breaking brown trout May 30 prior to measuring it and giving it the good ol’ fashioned “catch and release” treatment.

Catch and release and certified weight are the two state fishing records maintained by Idaho. This particular landing is in the catch and release category as the fish was put back into the river after being measured. (RELATED: Florida: 1 Woman Dead After 3 Alligator Interactions Get Violent In Span Of Week)

“I never dreamed when I started my day of fishing with Ed Emory of South Fork Lodge that God was going to bless me with a fish of a lifetime,” Langdale told Idaho Fish and Game.

Check out this bad boy:

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m just days away from a two-week vacation in South Florida, and most of my fishing will be done in the canals. With this being the case, here is my target list going into things:

Common Snook

Mangrove Snapper

Sheepshead

Largemouth Bass

Butterfly Peacock Bass

Peacock Cichlid

Tarpon

Redfish

Spotted Seatrout

Bluegill

Tilapia

With how much preparation I’ve put into this trip, quite frankly, I better catch all of them … and I’ve got a lot of confidence that I can do it.

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TOPICS: History; Hobbies; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: angler; fishing; travel; trout

[Patriot777]

Have a great time fishing! I hope you catch nice big fish of all on your list! Stay safe and God Bless!!

[rlmorel]

Hahaha...I was so proud...but I guess when catching stripers, everyone gets one like that! Alas, I could not keep it, because that is an extremely tasty fish...you could only keep them if they were between 29-32 inches long!

Sigh.

[imardmd1]

I lived on Cayuga Lake of the Finger Lakes in Upstate central es York. The boat dock was within 20 feet of my back door. If I wanted fish forsupper, I just grabbed the flyrod and pooped for bluegills to filet, skin, and fry right away. There were so many of them and hungry like piranhas so that you didn't need live bair. Only a little cork- odies fly. But when I got seious, went for the big-mouth bass that were dying of oldage on the shallow north end of the lake tke that had the branches of shoreline drooping over the water. If I caught a bass less than 3 lb, iI tossed it back. Took more bluegill filets to make up a good meal, but they tasted better than the bass.

If you wanted a good fight, you casted out a Mepps #3 bucktail spinner, and dragged it in as fast as you could wind the reel. When a 26 inch angry jack pickerel hit it breaking water at full speed, it would skim over the water fully exposed maybe a couple incheshigh about three or four feet and started thashi g on the way down. You'd better have something a littlebigger than a trout net to get him into the boat.

There was a lot if meat there, but even fileted the flesh had so many of those little Y-bones that it was no fun to eat.

[HKMk23]

Old Navy guy I knew used to take elk backstrap and make saurbraten with it. His “secret sauce” was to use crushed ginger snaps in his marinade. Ginger root is so danged concentrated it’s a devil of a spice to get distributed uniformly, hence the genius of using the cookies to supply it.

[Inyo-Mono]

I love me some fresh-caught trout, fried with bacon grease.

Me too! I live in the High Sierra, so it is just a 20 minute drive for me to high altitude, alpine lakes filled with trout. I used to fish every day after work.

[Clutch Martin]

Filet an old fish, plate the filet, salt the filet, stick the raw salted filet in the fridge. Check back in 15-20 minutes. The worms will rise up out of the filet and wiggle for you.