The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) confirms Bill Babler of Blue Eye is now the new state-record holder for brown trout after catching a monster 40-pound, 6-ounce fish at Lake Taneycomo Sept. 4 using a pole-and-line.
The previous record was set just seven months ago by Paul Crews of Neosho. Crews was also fishing at Lake Taneycomo when he reeled in a 34-pound, 10-ounce brown trout Feb. 23 using a pole-and-line.
Babler told the Springfield News-Leader he’d only been out fishing for a few minutes when he caught the fish.
“As soon as I set the hook it came to the top and I knew we had a good fish on,”