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I have a question? About 20yrs. ago there was aguy who broke the state record 4 times in one year,catching very large brown's(25-33lbs)I believe he still holds the state record.You used to hear about the large browns quite regular back then.However you never hear anything about the brown trout in the gorge anymore.Anyone know what has happened?I find it hard to believe they've just vanished after being such a prized trophie for so many years.Any Ideas? Thanks Lonnie
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Ray johnson might be the guy you are thinking of,he has caught many a big brown out of the gorge.I remember attending a meeting held buy the wyoming game and fish about ten years ago,they were wanting public input as how to manage the gorge.I remember that basically what came out of the meeting was that the game and fish was going to manage the gorge as a fishery for "trophy lake trout",hense putting more money in the coffers for the game and fish by bringing more sportsman to the gorge to fish for trophy lakers.People at the meeting were told that the monies for the brown program was going to be shifted to the lake trout program,and not much was going to be done with the program for the browns.Now some good and bad had come out of this,a very good program for kokenee salmon,a good program for lake trout,but the brown trout program has suffered alot,there are still big browns out there just not nearly as many and they are harder to catch.Another thing that the game and fish people said was the the gorge was not a good fishery for the browns ,water to cold ,foilage was scarce,and to much competeion for food with the other species,(always made me wonder ,if this is true how did they get so big in the first place).Any way this is all just my opionon,but good luck,,hope you do a catch a big brown just dont hold your breath to do.
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I also recall the days of Ray Johnson and his big brown's.. As I remember it there was a lot of controversy concerning foul hooked brown's pertaining to the speed in witch he claimed to troll.. I could be wrong but 11+ mph comes to mind.. Again I could be wrong about that speed but I do remember thinking he trolls very fast..........
Does anyone else recall that controversy??
Reguardless,, I'd like to lay hand to his maps!!
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Good info on Ray. You don't have to read much about him to come to the conclusion that he's a few Rapalas short of a full tackle box. I remember reading articles about him when I was a kid, living in caves for months at a time in the winter, breaking ice to bathe, etc. As I got older I read his book which is tougher to get through than War and Peace, as it's written on about a 2nd grade level. Really.
But despite all that smack talk, you can't refute his repute. Look at the DWR records page at how many times you see his name. He's a local legend.
