Avid fly fisherman Shelby Holder of Kemmerer wasn’t having the best of luck this spring. By the time he headed out for a quick fishing trip June 6, three of his four fly rods had been broken.
Sometimes, rod tips snap during a robust cast or “something happens to them, like somebody shutting them in a car door,” Holder told Cowboy State Daily.
His fortunes turned for the better that day — he ended up catching the new state record tiger trout, a nearly 15-pound state record whopper.
It was the third year in a row that a Wyoming tiger trout record was caught. All three fish were snagged in or near Viva Naughton Reservoir north of Kemmerer.
Tiger trout are sterile hybrids produced by crossing female brown trout and male brook trout. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department began stocking them in Viva Naughton in 2014.
‘He Was The Bully’
Holder left home early that morning with his only remaining flyfishing rig, a 1-weight fly rod with an 8-pound test fishing line leader.
“That’s the lightest fly rod that you can get,” he said.
He headed to a place where he expected average-sized rainbow trout, lessening the risk of snapping his last fly rod.
“I never thought I would have caught anything big, much less set a new state record,” he said.
He found a spot on the Hams Fork River between Viva Naughton Reservoir and Kemmerer City Reservoir.
Holder has been fly fishing since he was 16 and knows his fish well, and he spotted a huge tiger trout pushing the rainbow trout around.
“He was just the bully of that little stretch of river,” Holder said.
Smaller Flies Work On Big Fish
From the glimpses he caught of the tiger trout in the water, Holder knew it was a big fish.
Although he didn’t then know just how huge it was, he could tell that landing the tiger trout with his lightweight rig wasn’t going to be easy.
But he felt up to the challenge and decided to give it a go.
“I started tossing big flies at him,” but the tiger trout seemed uninterested, Holder said.
So, he tried tempting the big bully fish with some smaller flies, and one called a wooly bugger finally did the trick.
Holder said that once he had his hook in the tiger trout, it took a half-hour of delicate work to land it without breaking his line or snapping yet another fly rod.
Third Record In A Row
The official weight and measurements of Holder’s fish are 14 pounds, 15.2 ounces; 31.2 inches long; with a girth of 19 inches, according to Game and Fish.
The previous state record was a 12.77-pound tiger trout caught from Viva Naughton Reservoir in 2024 by Jaxon Krall of Kemmerer.
Before that, the record was held by an 11.92-pound tiger trout, also from the reservoir, caught by Owen Schaad of Cheyenne in 2023, according to Game and Fish.
‘I’m Going To Retire That Rod’
Holder said he plans to have his record-setting tiger trout mounted in a life-like display by Kelsey Reese of Piney Creek Taxidermy in Sheridan.
“She puts a lot of detail into to her work,” Holder said.
As for the fly fishing rig he used to catch the tiger trout, “I’m going to retire that rod,” he said.
It will be included in Reese’s taxidermy mount, Holder said, memorialized as the fly rod that helped him set a state record.
Now Holder’s in the market for a new set of fly rods.
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
