Rumors have been swirling for years that Idaho’s Payette Lake at McCall held long, heavy lake trout somewhere in its depths. Once a known producer of big mackinaw, the lake hadn’t kicked out a real monster in years. But on June 19, Aaron Goettsche’s catch of an Idaho state record lake trout turned all that Sasquatch-with-fins talk into cold, hard evidence.
Goettsche, a longtime angler and rod builder with experience guiding on Flaming Gorge Reservoir, was fishing solo on Payette when he hooked into a 42-inch lake trout: the largest of its kind ever recorded under Idaho’s catch-and-release program. His lunker officially breaks the previous record, a 41.5-incher set by Dylan Smith in 2018, according to a press release from Idaho Fish and Game (IFG). It also confirms that Payette Lake’s giant lake trout are more than just bait shop legends.
The fish was caught trolling at about 80 feet on the west side of the lake. After documenting the length with photos and measurements, Goettsche released the trout back into the depths. The state confirmed his submission in July.
Goettsche is no stranger to big lakers. A die-hard angler and custom rod maker, Goettshe has pulled plenty of brag-worthy lake trout from Flaming Gorge Reservoir: a 42,020-acre fishery that straddles the Idaho/Wyoming state line and is known for growing lake trout well over 30 pounds.
While this new record might sound like a lucky break, it’s the result of a focused, long-term recovery effort. In the early 2000s, biologists noticed that Payette Lake’s lake trout population was out of balance, with too many young fish competing for too little forage, especially kokanee. The result was a lake full of skinny, underperforming predators with no path to trophy size.
“It wasn’t uncommon to catch a 30-inch fish that looked like a snake,” IFG regional fisheries manager Jordan Messner said in a press release.
In 2018, IFG, along with the Department of Environmental Quality and the University of Idaho, launched a targeted recovery plan. The two-part strategy focused on removing lake trout under 27 inches to reduce pressure on the forage base and stocking kokanee to give surviving fish the calories they needed to grow.
Since then, over 3,000 juvenile lake trout have been removed from the system, and kokanee numbers have improved.
“We’re thinning out the juvenile lake trout so the ones that survive have more food — and they grow big,” said Messner.
And now the payoff is tangible proof that Payette Lake is home to monster lakers. In June 2023, anglers released a lake trout estimated at 54 pounds, just shy of the state’s certified weight record. And now, with Goettsche’s verified 42-incher, Payette Lake is officially back on the map as a trophy trout destination.
Salvelinus namaycush, better known as lake trout, mackinaw, or lake charr, are not native to Idaho. But they’ve been stocked in deep, cold lakes like Payette to support year-round angling opportunities. These fish live long and grow huge, but only when conditions are just right. Managing them can be tricky. Tip the balance, and they overrun the lake, scrawny and starving. But with enough food, not too many mouths, they can grow into real bruisers that will make your reel sweat.
To qualify for Idaho’s catch-and-release records, anglers have to measure their fish and back it up with photos. The recognition is about more than bragging rights. It’s about keeping lunkers in the water so they can grow even bigger.
Payette’s new trout era is more than a warm, fuzzy comeback story. It’s a real shot at the kind of fish most lakes just can’t produce anymore. The kind worth telling stories about.
And if a 42-inch mackinaw can rise from the depths after all these years, you have to wonder what else might be swimming around down there. Legend, it turns out, has teeth.
Related Articles
