In the space of five days last November, a teenage angler from Canmore, Alberta, rewrote the record book for one of the Canadian Rockies' most elusive native fish. Ryder Humphries, then 16, landed two bull trout on the Bow River that each measured roughly 27.5 inches, or 70 centimetres — enough to claim two separate length world records recognised by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA).
According to IGFA records, Humphries set the junior all-tackle length world record on November 2, then took the conventional all-tackle length world record on November 7. Both fish were caught on lures and released.
Logan Exton, the IGFA's angler recognition coordinator, said Humphries was fishing a pink grub on a jig head when he landed the youth record, then hooked the overall length record five days later on a Krocodile Spoon in a rainbow-trout pattern. Because the trout were caught on conventional gear, they sit separately from the species' fly-fishing length record — a 31.8-inch bull trout caught by Bo Nelson in Fernie, British Columbia, in 2011.
For most anglers, two world records in a week would be the whole story. For Humphries, now 17, it barely registers.
"The fish was the easiest part," he said.
He insists the records were the byproduct of a system, not a stroke of luck. "This wasn't some random event," he said. "I planned this for months and months prior because I've caught around 30 bull trout out of this river that would actually be longer than what I've submitted for these records." He began targeting record-eligible fish in October, timing his approach to the Bow River's fall bull trout migration.
The fish that made headlines, he is quick to add, were not his biggest. His personal best stretches to 36.5 inches — roughly 95 centimetres — far larger than anything he has officially submitted.
"My potential hasn't been reached. I believe it will be a totally different level for me if I can actually display my potential rather than just trophy fish for the records," Humphries said.
The gap between catching a giant and certifying one, he explained, is enormous. "You have to be able to prove it on a world stage. If you catch a 96-centimetre bull trout two years ago, that will never be a record. You have to be ready to submit before you ever get the fish," he said. "I've caught 10 to 20 bull trout bigger than my records. But you never hear about those ones because I didn't do the work to get them certified."
Bull trout make that work harder than most. Critically threatened across much of their North American range by development and warming waters, they carry protected status that raises the bar for any record attempt. "Because they're a threatened species, the standards to certify a record are much more difficult," Humphries said.
The records have also drawn online skepticism and even threats, a reaction Humphries says he welcomes — provided it plays out by the rules.
"If people think they can challenge it, I'm happy for them to," he said. "I encourage people to go out and break it instead of sitting on their couch typing about it."
"I do three-hours plus a day of aquatic ecology work. Understanding species, seasonal switches, behaviour," he said. "The preparation is mostly about documenting fish properly while keeping them safe and respecting conservation."
