Oh, Brother: A Trout To Shout About

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

That is one ginourmous fish in the hands of a proud Sean Konrad in a photo taken earlier this month. Konrad reeled in a 48 pound rainbow trout on Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan. That's a world record for rainbow trout, if it's certified.

But there are anglers who say that Konrad shouldn't claim the record because he caught a genetically engineered sterile trout known as a triploid; having three sets of chromosomes, not two. Sean Konrad joins us to talk about it from Edmonton, Alberta. And, Sean, first, I want you to describe what it was like to reel in that 48 pound fish.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. SEAN KONRAD (Angler): It was something else. I hook into those big rainbow and, you know, you got a big one and it did lots of rolling, and it did about three different runs, which - we'd actually had to lift the anchor and go after this fish. But the real excitement didn't come until we actually netted the fish and realized the size of this thing.

BLOCK: Well, yeah, I mean, a typical rainbow trout might be how big?

Mr. KONRAD: It depends where you are. But, you know, a trophy is going to be around the 15 to 20 pound mark.

BLOCK: Okay, this was 48 pounds.

Mr. KONRAD: Yeah.

BLOCK: So what were you thinking when you saw that in the net?

Mr. KONRAD: Well, we knew it was a big. We weren't exactly sure how big. And my brother had the previous world record before. And we brought it in the boat, and we knew it was going to be pretty close, for sure, to break Adam's record. So we kept it. And we had a certified scale out there and pretty much bottomed our 50-pound scale out.

It's hard to explain. You know, it doesn't really kick in until you actually sit down and think about, like, what you've just done and, like, how much I'd broken the record by. It's kind of mind-boggling. So…

BLOCK: Yeah, you mentioned the earlier record that's held by your identical twin brother, Adam. That record was what, forty…?

Mr. KONRAD: Forty-three pounds.

BLOCK: Forty-three pounds. And that fish, I've seen a picture of that one. You know, that fish just looks like a minnow compared to what you're holding.

Mr. KONRAD: Well, it was a big fish, that's for sure.

BLOCK: Well, let's talk about this issue of the genetic engineering here. I gather that there were half-a-million genetically engineered fish that got into this lake through a damaged net at a fish farm, and they've stocked more since. And I guess it's because they are genetically engineered, they're sterile. They don't use up energy spawning. So they grow really big, and you knew there would be a bunch of really big fish in this lake.

Mr. KONRAD: That's for sure. Yeah, me and my brother, we guide out there for these trophy rainbows.

BLOCK: Well, I guess this is not a random catch. You're out there trying to break records with your brother.

Mr. KONRAD: Yeah. We were trying for all the line-class world records. I think we have six or seven now out of nine or 10. So we still got our work cut out for us.

BLOCK: Well, you know, Sean, there is this controversy out there. There are people posting on message boards saying, you know, doesn't this completely demean the records from real rainbow trout? This is genetically engineered. It's a freak.

Mr. KONRAD: Well, you know, it's up to the IGFA to decide. I'm just an angler out there catching these fish. And my opinion is, you know, I'm not the one that made this fish. I'm the one that caught it. So I'm going to register it.

BLOCK: And IGFA is the International Game Fish Association.

Mr. KONRAD: Yes.

BLOCK: They decide.

Mr. KONRAD: They decide.

BLOCK: You did have a snappy comeback to one of those people who was posting online complaining.

Mr. KONRAD: Oh, yeah. What was it? My brother said it. It was like, stop crying and start fishing.

BLOCK: Words to live by, I guess.

Mr. KONRAD: Yeah.

BLOCK: Well, Sean Konrad, thanks for talking with us.

Mr. KONRAD: Oh, thank you.

(Soundbite of music)

BLOCK: Sean Konrad is an auto mechanic in Edmonton, Alberta, when he's not catching monster trout. As for what he plans to do with his 48-pound catch, it's sitting in a deep-freezer right now while Konrad makes plans to mount the fish and show the world how big a rainbow trout can grow.

(Soundbite of music)

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Your letters and a new magnum opus from one of America's late, great playwrights, Horton Foote, "The Orphan's Home Cycle." That's when we continue with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.