Idaho angler’s record-setting trout in Utah deemed invalid

An Idaho man who caught a record-setting trout in Utah has been told his fish does not qualify for the record anymore because he caught it without a valid fishing license.

Sidney Cellan caught the 57-pound, 48-inch lake trout in June at the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources told Cellan the fish was the state’s largest catch-and-release trout in history. Wildlife officials, however, now say they made an honest mistake in crowning Cellan’s trout since his fishing license expired a few days before the catch.

Cellan released the fish, so it is still in the reservoir for another angler to catch.

The record trout of 46.5 inches by Ray Johnson in 1998 stands, again.