FishRook
Jean-Philippe Lartigue of Bethesda holds the new Maryland record for rainbow trout fishing thanks to his recent catch of a 17.44-pound trout Feb. 10.
He beat the previous 1987 record by more than three pounds.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recognized Lartigue after he caught the fish in the section of Antietam Creek that runs through Devil’s Backbone County Park in Washington County.
He used a long, 12-foot crappie-style rod, spinning reel, eight-pound test monofilament line, a small split-shot weight, and a No. 8 hook baited with a natural worm bait, according to the DNR.
Lartigue was a fisheries biologist consulting with governments in Africa before retiring. Lartigue is French and originally from Morocco, where he learned from his father the European style of fishing natural baits with long rods for trout.
“I knew the fish was a very large trout, but I did not see how big it was at the beginning of the…
