NYS Brook Trout Record Broken after 12 Years

After 12 years, the New York State brook trout record has been broken again. On July 5, 2025, Benjamin Ferguson (32) of Croghan, New York, reeled in a 6-pound, 3-ounce brook trout, which the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is expected to announce soon as the New York State record brook trout. Ferguson was fishing at a pond in the Saint Regis Canoe Area in the Adirondacks, trolling a Lake Clear Wobbler trailing a nightcrawler, when the monster fish hit.

Ferguson and his fishing buddy Shawn Widrick were on a three-day fishing trip in the SRCA, pond-hopping in lightweight canoes.

“We had a couple of tough days of fishing. We were sitting on the pond trolling around, and I happened to hook into a trout and it was a nice fish, a 2.5-pounder. We were pretty excited about that. We said, ‘even if that’s what we catch the whole weekend, that’s good enough.’” We let that one go and went back out. We were going to troll ‘til dark and call it a night.”

Trolling a wobbler in a different area of the pond that he had never caught a fish in before, Ferguson suddenly hooked into a giant. “I could actually hear the rod holder rattling on the gunnel when it bit. It was pretty intense.” Ferguson set the hook and knew he had a huge fish on.

“It was probably close to a five-minute fight, but it felt a lot longer than that. I missed it the first time with the net, but I got a pretty good look at it. I said, ‘this is a lot bigger than anything I’ve ever seen before.’ I loosened the drag a little bit and tried to play him out some more, and just hope my leader doesn’t break or I don’t have a heart attack, one of the two.”

When Ferguson and Widrick got the fish back to shore, they immediately knew they had something special. On the portable scale, the fish weighed in at a whopping 6.23 pounds, well over the state record of 6 pounds even.

Since it was late in the day and any outfits with certified scales would be closed for the night, the pair decided to spend the night and head out in the morning. To keep the fish away from critters during the night, they put it in a canoe and floated the canoe out into the lake. The fish made it through the night and Ferguson and Widrick packed out the next day and took the fish to Red Barn Meats, where manager Joel Kloster weighed the fish on a certified scale, with an official weight of 6 pounds, 3 ounces.

After that, Ferguson took the fish to DEC staff, who dissected the fish to examine it to ensure that it was not a splake, which is a hybrid between a brook trout and a lake trout. Once Ferguson’s catch was confirmed to be a brook trout, DEC staff informed him that he had the record.

The brook trout is New York State’s official freshwater fish and an Adirondack icon. After being nearly extirpated in the 1970s and 80s from acid rain, and due to the management efforts of Department of Environmental Conversation fisheries staff with input from sportsmen, the brook trout has rebounded and provides sportsmen an outstanding fishery—if they are willing to get after it; most Adirondack brook trout ponds require a hike to get to.  

According to reporting by Syracuse.com, Between 2004 and 2013, the brook trout record was broken 8 times. The last record was set by the late Rick Beauchamp of Mayfield, New York, a storied Adirondack brook trout fisherman who was well known in the brook trout fishing community. His fish, caught from Silver Lake in the Silver Lake Wilderness Area of the southern Adirondacks, had an official weight of 6 pounds and measured 22.5 inches. Beauchamp passed away in 2018.

The New York State brook trout record is considered a unique and significant accomplishment among angling records due to the effort required to reach trophy brook trout ponds in the Adirondacks. Many ponds require a four or five mile hike to reach, with some ponds requiring seven miles or more. Most Adirondack brook trout fishermen carry lightweight pack canoes made by companies such as Hornbeck Boats or the Adirondack Canoe Company, which weigh as little as 15 pounds. Because of the distances involved, many brook trout fishermen choose to stay overnight at ponds, which means a multi-mile hike with not only a boat but a large overnight pack on their backs as well. 

Although Ben accomplished a lifetime goal of catching the New York State record brook trout, his achievement isn’t slowing him down, and he plans to continue brook trout fishing as frequently as possible, going out on the ponds every weekend he can. His goals now?

“I would say there’s a lot more ponds I want to see. I’m just excited to keep going. This isn’t going to change any of that for me. It means I go check out some new ponds. Maybe something that we don’t feel really holds a great big trout, but it’s just a really cool experience, cool adventure, see some new territory. That’s what I’m excited for.”

CHECK OUT THE INTERVIEW WITH BENJAMIN FERGUSON ON THE ADIRONDACK HUNT PODCAST HERE: