Could 2015 finally be the year for a new state record speckled trout?

Leon Mattes’ 12.38-pounder has been No. 1 since 1950

Despite the huge number of fishermen popping corks, bouncing jigs, throwing topwaters and tight-lining live bait across the coast from Sabine Lake to Venice, not a single angler reported a speckled trout big enough to crack into the state’s Top 10 last year.

The last man to accomplish that feat was Jason Ellender, who caught a 10.65-pounder in Sabine Lake on March 23, 2013 — good enough for No. 8 on the all-time list.

Before him, the last angler to even enter the Top 10 happened way back in 2004, when Barry Terrell landed a 10.7-pounder on Big Lake to claim the seventh spot.

So will anyone ever top Leon Mattes’ often discussed — and much debated — 12.38-pounder taken from Lake Hermitage almost 75 years ago in May of 1950?

“I wouldn’t be surprised at some point if it’s broken, you just never know,” said Randy Pausina, head of fisheries for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “When we see good recruitment years, we know three, four or five years later there’s that potential if all the conditions are good.

“Especially out of Venice, Lake Pontchartrain or Calcasieu (Big Lake), you could certainly see a big fish crack the Top 10.”

A closer look at the records, compiled by the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association, shows that seven of the Top 10 biggest fish were caught in the months of April and May.

History indicates the next five weeks — especially around the full moon on May 3 —are when lightning could strike again and someone could land a Top 10 fish.

Chris Holmes, the executive director of LOWA, said one of the top speckled trout fisherman in the state, Dudley Vandenborre Jr. — creator of Deadly Dudley soft plastic lures and holder of the state’s No. 10 trout with a 10.5-pounder from Lake Pontchartrain in 2002 — believes he’s already laid eyes on the record-breaking fish.

“Dudley has told me that he had a fish hit a 4- or 5-pound trout he was reeling in, and it hit it sideways where he got to see it, and he swears it’s definitely over the 12.3-pounder for the record,” Holmes said. “It wasn’t recently, but he always fishes the lake and he’s in the Top 10. He knows what they look like and he knows what’s out there.

“Those are the things that keep everybody going on. They’re out there, so why not you? Somebody’s got to do it, especially since the record’s been there that long and we’ve gotten so close.”

The state’s No. 2 trout, taken by Kenneth Kreeger in Lake Pontchartrain in January of 1999, was less than half a pound from taking over the top spot.

“Kenny’s fish was right at 12, less than half a pound away,” Holmes said. “That could be the difference of icing it well, and it throwing up a pogey on the way in. There’s your difference right there.”

Another reason Holmes thinks the record will eventually be broken is that more anglers are releasing trophy trout now.

“There have been lots of folks who are catching 8s and 9s that are personal bests, but they’re not keeping them anymore,” he said. “So every one that’s released improves the chances. They don’t grow any bigger in the ice chest. If they’re released, they have the chance to do it.”

They say records are made to be broken, and Pausina said more than likely, another lucky angler will eventually claim the coveted top spot.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if it was broken one day,” Pausina said. “Watch, it’s just going to happen out of nowhere one day.”

Louisiana’s Top 10 Speckled Trout

     Weight      Angler                            Location                          Date

1.   12.38     Leon Mattes                     Lake Hermitage                 May, 1950

2.   11.99     Kenneth Kreeger              Lake Pontchartrain            Jan. 1999

3.   11.24     Jason Troullier                   Rigolets (Lake Borgne)     Sept., 1999

4.   11.16     Timothy Mahoney, II         Calcasieu Lake                 May, 2002

5.   10.81     Kevin Galley                     Calcasieu Lake                 May, 1997

6.   10.75     Randolph D. Green            Sandy Point                     Aug. 1970

7.   10.70     Barry Terrell                     Calcasieu Lake                 May, 2004

8.   10.65     Jason Ellender                   Sabine Lake                    March, 2013

9.   10.63     John Kaparis                     Unknown                         May, 1979

10. 10.50     Dudley Vandenborre, Jr.    Lake Pontchartrain           April, 2002

10. 10.50     Ed Sexton                          Venice                            April, 2000

About Patrick Bonin 1315 Articles
Patrick Bonin is the former editor of Louisiana Sportsman magazine and LouisianaSportsman.com.