Mountain Whitefish - Old Man AB Record Info

[jugfish920]

Hello,

Was just looking at some old photos and came across a mountain whitefish that I caught in 2018 on the Old Man while searching for bulls. My friend mentioned that he thought it was a very large fish at this time, but i had no idea (my first and only mountain whitie). I intended to check typical sizes and records when i got home, but as is in life, i moved onto other things.

I didn't get a measure on it as i didn't have a tape, but when comparing it to the reel (which is a 3.5" diameter Redington Rise 5/6), I find i can fit ~6-7 reels widths into the fish. This puts it around 22-24". From the info i could find, they typically don't go much past 20", but wondering if anyone has any AB records they could share, or even better, records for the Old Man...

Also, as my measurements are less than scientific, feel free to let me know if i'm over/under estimating... for another reference. The rod is a 5wt Fenwick Aetos, which is 10.75" measured from butt to edge of cork...

Not looking to claim a large fish after the fact, rather finally sort out for my own knowledge if I found a rare mountain whitie.

Cheers,
Joel

[bonedogg]

decent but not huge by any means ........ 2 lb fish maybe?

[SNAPFisher]

Long Rocky for sure. Nice fish!


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[270hunter]

Very long but lacks the weight to be a record of any sort. I’ve caught a few whities that I could barely fit 2 hands around together. I don’t bring a scale and I could care less about an official record because catching them is enough fun for me. These big whites I’m talking about are in the lower stretches of rivers quite aways east where they are not as sterile and lots of food unlike the mountains. Nice fish tho!

[BEL]

Boy, does this bring back memories. My good buddy brought me along fishing with his family on the Oldman River the day the Americans landed on the moon. First time I ever fished it. Coming back to the truck, we were within view of the Brocket bridge when I hooked and landed a huge white. Some of the older family members did not think it was a rocky because of its size. I didnt know any better. When I returned home to clean the fish I got a call from my buddy who told me not to clean it as it could be a record fish or close to it. Too late. He told me the record was something like 4 lbs and gave me the length. I did not have a scale but the length was 1/4 in shorter than the record. Sorry, I have no pics. Never came close to one that size again. It used to be one hell of river for fishing. Lots of rockies and bulls. As the years went by, less bulls and more bows. BEL

[Wes_G]

All provincial records (hunting and fishing) are on the main AO page in the menu on the left hand side.

http://www.albertaoutdoorsmen.ca/record-book.html

[slough shark]

That’s a long one for sure, maybe it’s the time of year but she seems skinny. I remember when I was younger fishing by the weir in Calgary and out west on the red deer and catching a few pigs probably around 4 lbs although I didn’t have a scale. It seems to be harder to catch big ones these days.

[Speckle55]

That is a male Mountain Whitefish

They are in the Athabasca river out here too

some of the bigger one will be up there #5

we get 21 inch males in the winter holes some times

i am old now ... lol.. but when i walk the river i targeted them

here is a World Record Mountain Whitefish from 1986 on 12# line

got a Berkley Promo in 1987

all the mountain Whitefish are over 2 1/2 # to 3 1/2 # in 3rd pic

if yours's was a female at 24inches it would be in the 4 to 6 # range in Aug

nice memories any way

now that's how u win AFGA annual awards length

David:)

[jugfish920]

Thanks a lot for all of the replies guys. Awesome insight here and amazing historical photos!!

I can only go by using the measurement of the reel diameter as a proxy, but it definitely seems 20"+ and more like 22"+. Wish I had brought a tape with me

Again though, as its just for my own knowledge, its cool to just know i caught a decently large one, even if i wasnt targetting it - just wish it had filled out a little more to help on the weight side.

For further info, I believe it was caught mid-August on a San juan worm as I was nonchalantly casting at small pockets while walking back to the car. Was on the middle section of the river a ways upstream of the Old Man dam.

@Bel , @speckle55 - Although we were there for Bull trout, we struggled to see any let alone get any follows. Wondering what has happened to them... That said, I was shocked with how many decent sized cutties there were and how eager they were to take the hopper on the hopper dropper. Coming from Toronto, this blew my mind... Decent amount of rainbows as well like you said. Was my first time in southern AB - I can see why fly fishermen fall in love with the area...

This year I fished the Highwood instead and noticed there were way more bulls visible - just struggled to connect, although we did get a few grabs (And I did get a smaller one while nymphing a fast riffle for the many smaller rainbows that seem to be in that river)... I also fished the Raven near Caroline this year, which was a massive challenge. Tight fishing space and not much visible. I'm assuming the larger browns are hidden in undercuts, which i hope to explore more as the gf's family has a cabin on a decent stretch of the river...

I hope to make it back this year to try another river for bulls... Any thoughts?

[coachman]

I have a ex world record on my book shelf, It was caught in 1977. The smallest one of 3 that was caught that week that went over 5 lbs. It still is 19 inches long and 15 inches around. Fish start to shrink the minute they die, I can not remember how long it was but I seem to think it was 21 inches. My big cutthroat lost 4 Inch in length from when in was caught in when in was weight todays later. As far as weight goes they lose that quickly, one of the white fish lost over 9 oz. over night end up with an official weight of 4.9 lbs.

[BEL]

Jug, I forgot to mention that in the early years we caught no cuts but that changed in the late 70's I think. The best section we fished was upstream of the dam between the 2 big curves of the river. Tremendous fishery in those early years. All the fish went wild for hoppers, real ones. Cant use them anymore. BEL