State-Record Trout Disqualified Because Angler Didn’t Have a Fishing License

Old-fashioned detective work revealed the man had bought his license after he caught the fish, then told a game warden he’d caught it at night

Kody King (pictured) with the state-record tiger trout that he caught illegally last May. Photograph by Idaho Department of Fish and Game

There’s been a shake up in the Idaho fishing records book, as state officials were forced to rescind an angler’s record nearly six months after it was certified. Unlike other recent fishing-records scandals, there was no doubt as to the true weight of Kody King’s tiger trout, which nearly doubled the existing record for the species. The issue with King’s record, according to an article published Friday in the Idaho State-Journal, was that he didn’t have a valid fishing license at the time.

As we reported last spring, King caught the fish from Montpelier Reservoir in late May, and it weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces on a…