In June, Shelby Holder set a new Wyoming state record for tiger trout with a 14-pound, 15.2-ounce fish The trout was 31.2 inches long and had a girth of 19 inches. Holder’s record breaking trout was caught in the Hams Fork River, between Viva Naughton Reservoir and Kemmerer City Reservoir.
Holder caught the fish with a 1-weight fly rod using a brown wooly bugger. Holder said he used 8-pound-test line as a leader and it took 30 minutes to land the fish. Holder was fishing for rainbow trout, but had caught tiger trout in that particular hole. He said he saw this particular tiger trout “come up from behind a couple of rainbows and try to run them out of the hole.”
Holder’s catch marks the third consecutive year that a Wyoming state record has been set for tiger trout. In 2024, Jaxon Krall set a new record with a 12.77 pound fish caught at Viva Naughton. In 2023, Owen Schaad set the state record with a 11.93 tiger trout caught from Viva Naughton.
Tiger trout is a sterile hybrid fish produced by crossing a female brown trout with a male brook trout. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department first stocked tiger trout in Viva Naughton in 2014 and the fish have thrived in the reservoir, due in part to an abundant food source of Utah chub.
Holder’s catch confirms some of the tiger trout stocked in Viva Naughton have moved into the Hams Fork below the reservoir, and possibly further down into the Kemmerer City Reservoir.
Holder said he plans to retire his 1-weight fly rod that landed his record fish, and he also plans to have the fish mounted.
A complete list of Wyoming state record fish is available on the Wyoming Game & Fish Department website.
source: Wyoming Game & Fish Department
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