The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that angler Rick Beauchamp now holds the New York state record for brook trout with a six-pound, 22.5-inch brook trout.
Mr. Beauchamp reeled in the record-breaking fish on May 16 while fishing Silver Lake in Hamilton County in the Adirondack’s Silver Lake Wilderness.
The new record brook trout, caught on a lake clear wabbler and worm, weighed in at slightly just more than 6 pounds, surpassing the previous state record set in 2012 by two ounces.
Until a few years ago, Silver Lake was too acidified to support a trout population. In 1976, the lake had a pH of 5.0 which is too acidic for brook trout to thrive.
DEC began an experimental stocking program for brook trout in 2002, after water chemistry samples indicated the pH of lake had risen to almost 6.0.
Currently, DEC stocks Silver Lake with native brook trout, the only fish species known to be present in the impoundment.
source: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation