Bear River brown trout is Idaho’s new catch-and-release record at 31 inches

Idaho has a new catch-and-release brown trout record, and it came off the Bear River. Idaho Fish and Game said Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, that Benjamin Smith of Thatcher caught the fish on Aug. 28 in Franklin County. The department’s catch-and-release record list shows the fish at 31 inches.

Smith’s trout beat the record Caroline Langdale set in May 2026 on the South Fork Snake River by half an inch. Fish and Game called a brown over 30 inches rare in Idaho and said most anglers would have expected the May fish to stand for a long time.

The catch-and-release program scores total length, from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail, and the fish has to be released alive. Fish and Game’s note says the Bear in southeastern Idaho is known first for native cutthroat, and that the same water also holds rainbow and brown trout.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Idaho Fish and Game — Bear River produces new Idaho catch-and-release state record brown trout (Oct. 16, 2026). Length: IDFG catch-and-release records (brown trout, 31 inches, Bear River, Aug. 28, 2026).