Karmactive Staff
Wyoming’s tiger trout record has fallen again, marking the third consecutive year this fishing milestone has been broken. Shelby Holder of Kemmerer landed a massive 14-pound, 15.2-ounce tiger trout from the Hams Fork River on June 6, 2025. The record-breaking fish measured 31.2 inches in length with a 19-inch girth.
This impressive catch easily surpassed the previous state record set just last year by fellow Kemmerer resident Jaxon Krall, whose tiger trout weighed 12.77 pounds. The streak began in 2023 when Owen Schaad of Cheyenne established a record with an 11.93-pound tiger trout.
What makes this latest record particularly interesting is the location. While the previous two record fish were caught directly in Viva Naughton Reservoir, Holder’s trophy came from the Hams Fork River between Viva Naughton Reservoir and Kemmerer City Reservoir. This confirms that some of the large tiger trout stocked in the reservoir have moved downstream into connected waterways.
“I thought I would cast at him. He rolled on the fly, I set the hook and that fly rod was bent in a ‘U,'” said Holder, describing the moment he hooked the massive fish. “I knew I had to take my time if I hoped to land it. I had all evening so that’s what I did. It’s spectacular and awesome. I never thought I would hook into something that big.”
The capture itself was a test of patience and skill. Holder was using lightweight equipment – a 1-weight fly rod with 8-pound-test line as a leader and a brown wooly bugger fly. The fight lasted a full 30 minutes before he could successfully land the record-breaking fish. Interestingly, Holder wasn’t specifically targeting tiger trout at the time but was fishing for rainbow trout in a hole where he had previously caught tiger trout.
Tiger trout aren’t naturally occurring fish. They’re a sterile hybrid created by crossing a female brown trout with a male brook trout. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department first introduced tiger trout to Viva Naughton Reservoir in 2014 as part of their fisheries management strategy.
Jessica Lockwood, Green River Fisheries Biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, expressed surprise at how well these fish have performed. “The performance of tiger trout stocked in Viva Naughton has undoubtedly exceeded our expectations,” she said. “As we hoped, tiger trout keying into the abundant Utah chub population has produced some exceptional-sized fish.”
The success of tiger trout in Viva Naughton is largely attributed to the reservoir’s plentiful food source – specifically Utah chub. These predatory hybrids were strategically introduced to help control populations of these less desirable fish species. The strategy has clearly paid off, not just for ecosystem management but also in creating trophy fishing opportunities.
The rapid growth of these fish in just over a decade since their introduction highlights the effectiveness of Wyoming’s fisheries management approach. Their inability to reproduce (being sterile hybrids) means their populations can be precisely controlled through stocking, preventing potential issues with overpopulation or competition with native species.
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For Holder, this record-breaking catch has special significance. He plans to have the fish mounted as a trophy and will retire the 1-weight fly rod that helped him land the massive tiger trout.
This ongoing series of record breaks has put Viva Naughton Reservoir and the surrounding waterways on the map for anglers seeking trophy tiger trout. The consistent breaking of records demonstrates both the health of Wyoming’s aquatic ecosystems and the success of the Game and Fish Department’s management strategies.
Wyoming fishing enthusiasts now wonder if 2026 will bring yet another record, continuing this remarkable streak in the state’s fishing history.
