Wisconsin angler hooks huge 41 ½-pound trout, may have world record

RACINE, Wis. — When Roger Hellen launched his 21-foot boat in the Racine harbor early Friday morning, he was no different from the 1,300 other anglers competing in the Salmon-A-Rama sportfishing tournament — he hoped to land a big fish.

"Something in the 22.5-pound range would have been great," said Hellen, 38.

Such a fish would assume the top spot in the Lake Michigan-wide contest run by Salmon Unlimited of Wisconsin Inc.

Hellen outdid himself. Not only did he take over the tourney lead, he assumed a new title: potential world record holder.

Trolling the Lake Michigan waters off Wind Point, north of Racine, Hellen hooked and landed a 41-pound, 8-ounce brown trout.

The fish blew past the 22.4-pound brown trout that had been in the Salmon-A-Rama lead.

It is nearly 5 pounds heavier than the Wisconsin record listed by the Department of Natural Resources, a 36-pound, 8.9-ounce brown trout caught in 2004 in the Lake Michigan waters of Kewaunee County.

And if the weight, pending applications and reviews hold up, it will establish a world record for the species.

The standing world record, according to the two leading game fish record-keeping organizations, the International Game Fish Association and the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, is a 41-pound, 7.5-ounce brown trout caught last September in the Manistee River of Michigan.

Hellen, a supervisor at a Racine packaging company, grew up in Kenosha in a fishing family.

He learned the Lake Michigan fishing ropes from his father. These days, Hellen, a member of Salmon Unlimited, fishes just about every weekend out of Racine.

He had been having mixed success in recent days, including a "bomb out" in the "Two-On-A-Boat" competition earlier in Salmon-A-Rama.

But strong west and southwest winds in the last couple of days pushed warm surface water away from the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan, allowing colder, more "salmonid-friendly" water to upwell and creating good fishing conditions close to shore.

So when Hellen and his fishing partner Joe Miller launched Hellen's boat, "Get Hooked," Friday, they targeted near shore areas just north of Racine.

The duo had three 10-pound chinook salmon in the box and were trolling in about 40 feet of water off Wind Point when another fish hit.