11-year-old catches an Arkansas whopperBY MICHAEL PEARCEThe Wichita EagleSalmon-sized and scarlet-sided from gill cover to anal fin, the 31-inch linebacker of a trout is as gorgeous as it is gargantuan. The story behind the huge rainbow may be even larger.
A possible Arkansas record, it's swimming free because it was hooked, landed and released, without being weighed, at a mandatory-release stream.
As impressive, the great fish was caught on a fly rod by an 11-year-old Kansan.
Those who know Levi Lenard, of Burlington, aren't totally surprised.
"They say that 90 percent of the fish are caught by 10 percent of the anglers," said Steve Dally, a well-traveled fly-fishing guide from Mountain Home, Ark.
"Well, within that 10 percent seems to be another 10 percent who consistently catch really big fish. Levi seems to be one of those few. He has great skills."
Even at his young age, Levi's caught some brutes.
At 9, he battled and landed a 16-pound striper. That same year he caught a 30-pound catfish.
"He's always had a knack for catching fish when others can't," said his dad, Lewis Lenard. "He works hard at it."
And he loves it more than almost anything.
Though a rabid Kansas Jayhawks fan, Levi opted for the family tradition of a holiday week fishing trip to the Ozarks instead of KU's bowl game in Fort Worth.
Part of the trip's appeal was a few days fly-fishing with Dally.
"There was only so much I could teach Levi," said his father, a longtime fly caster. "He needed to work with a pro."
After a family day on a public river, where Levi caught his first trout on a fly rod, Dally took the boy to Dry Run Creek, a tributary of the legendary North Fork River.
The stream is open only to the physically impaired and kids 15 and younger.
It's lures only, and strictly catch-and-release.
"It's a phenomenal place to take a kid," Dally said. "You can go there about any time and see really nice trout."
Dally and his young client started low on the property on Dec. 28 and gradually worked upstream.
Levi was handling the 8 ½-foot, five-weight rod like an experienced angler, putting casts where Dally directed.
His fly was a size-16 white woolly bugger, to replicate winter-killed shad.
The combination of good casting, with the right fly into fish-filled water, paid off.
Levi had caught and released about 25 trout weighing up to three pounds, when Dally instructed him to cast to a promising bit of water.
That's when the huge fish hit.
"When it came up out of the murk, it took me a split second to recognize it as a fish," Dally said. "A very big, and very wide fish."
At the hook set, the fish thrashed and rolled on the water. Dally wasted no time.
"I could tell it was big enough that we didn't want it to take-off, even with (eight-pound) tippet," he said. "It could have snapped that so easily."
He hustled across the 40-foot stream, and made a scoop with his net.
"The fish was too big and it flopped out," Dally said. "I tried again and got enough in the net that we got it in. Levi did a really good job on his end."
After some whooping and hollering by three generations of Lenards, some crude measurements and a few photos were taken.
Levi kissed the fish goodbye, and helped Dally quickly return it to the water.
All knew the trout was huge, but were amazed when experts estimated its weight over the Arkansas record, a 1981 catch of 19 pounds, 1 ounce.
"It's really hard to estimate fish by looking at a photograph, but from the photo, and the measurements they gave me (31 inches with a 22- to 24-inch girth) I'd say it was probably in the lower 20s," said Stan Todd, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission trout biologist.
"We have a 21-pounder (hatchery-kept fish) hanging in the office. They look identical."
Todd said there's no way to recognize a fish as a state record unless it's weighed on certified scales.
The Lenards are considering getting a replica mount made of the fish. They're keeping a scrapbook of articles about the catch.
Levi said he has no regrets he had to watch the fish of a lifetime swim away.
"It was OK," Levi said. "I knew it would go back, grow some more and maybe somebody else can go catch him again. It was fun."
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A possible Arkansas record, it's swimming free because it was hooked, landed and released, without being weighed, at a mandatory-release stream.
As impressive, the great fish was caught on a fly rod by an 11-year-old Kansan.
Those who know Levi Lenard, of Burlington, aren't totally surprised.
"They say that 90 percent of the fish are caught by 10 percent of the anglers," said Steve Dally, a well-traveled fly-fishing guide from Mountain Home, Ark.
"Well, within that 10 percent seems to be another 10 percent who consistently catch really big fish. Levi seems to be one of those few. He has great skills."
Even at his young age, Levi's caught some brutes.
At 9, he battled and landed a 16-pound striper. That same year he caught a 30-pound catfish.
"He's always had a knack for catching fish when others can't," said his dad, Lewis Lenard. "He works hard at it."
And he loves it more than almost anything.
Though a rabid Kansas Jayhawks fan, Levi opted for the family tradition of a holiday week fishing trip to the Ozarks instead of KU's bowl game in Fort Worth.
Part of the trip's appeal was a few days fly-fishing with Dally.
"There was only so much I could teach Levi," said his father, a longtime fly caster. "He needed to work with a pro."
After a family day on a public river, where Levi caught his first trout on a fly rod, Dally took the boy to Dry Run Creek, a tributary of the legendary North Fork River.
The stream is open only to the physically impaired and kids 15 and younger.
It's lures only, and strictly catch-and-release.
"It's a phenomenal place to take a kid," Dally said. "You can go there about any time and see really nice trout."
Dally and his young client started low on the property on Dec. 28 and gradually worked upstream.
Levi was handling the 8 ½-foot, five-weight rod like an experienced angler, putting casts where Dally directed.
His fly was a size-16 white woolly bugger, to replicate winter-killed shad.
The combination of good casting, with the right fly into fish-filled water, paid off.
Levi had caught and released about 25 trout weighing up to three pounds, when Dally instructed him to cast to a promising bit of water.
That's when the huge fish hit.
"When it came up out of the murk, it took me a split second to recognize it as a fish," Dally said. "A very big, and very wide fish."
At the hook set, the fish thrashed and rolled on the water. Dally wasted no time.
"I could tell it was big enough that we didn't want it to take-off, even with (eight-pound) tippet," he said. "It could have snapped that so easily."
He hustled across the 40-foot stream, and made a scoop with his net.
"The fish was too big and it flopped out," Dally said. "I tried again and got enough in the net that we got it in. Levi did a really good job on his end."
After some whooping and hollering by three generations of Lenards, some crude measurements and a few photos were taken.
Levi kissed the fish goodbye, and helped Dally quickly return it to the water.
All knew the trout was huge, but were amazed when experts estimated its weight over the Arkansas record, a 1981 catch of 19 pounds, 1 ounce.
"It's really hard to estimate fish by looking at a photograph, but from the photo, and the measurements they gave me (31 inches with a 22- to 24-inch girth) I'd say it was probably in the lower 20s," said Stan Todd, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission trout biologist.
"We have a 21-pounder (hatchery-kept fish) hanging in the office. They look identical."
Todd said there's no way to recognize a fish as a state record unless it's weighed on certified scales.
The Lenards are considering getting a replica mount made of the fish. They're keeping a scrapbook of articles about the catch.
Levi said he has no regrets he had to watch the fish of a lifetime swim away.
"It was OK," Levi said. "I knew it would go back, grow some more and maybe somebody else can go catch him again. It was fun."
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