Freezer Burned
Aging trophy brookie becomes biology experiment
Chris Rehlinger
It seems the final chapter of historic fishing trips often turn into be the most memorable part. Even when it takes 12 years to come to an ending.
An evening fishing trip with my five-year old son in 2006 yielded a substantial catch within the Parfrey’s Glen property near Merrimac. A very small plunge pool maybe three feet deep had given us a few brook trout in the past stretching perhaps to eight inches in length. One night after catching a few of the usual-sized brookies all Hell broke loose on the end of a three and a half foot rod rigged with a bobber, sinker, and hook baited with a small chunk of crawler.
After an aggressive slam of the rod just before dark, a hook set that was primarily a child holding onto the rod and lifting, a trophy sized fish for this small body of water surrendered. A beautifully marked 11-1/2 inch native brook trout, the only trout species in Wisconsin native to its natural streams was caught. Brook trout are not strictly trout but are a part of the char family. What made this fish’s size so great was that brook trout densities for the Parfrey’s Glen Creek are low to moderate; a density so low in its upper reaches in the Baraboo Hills to supposedly not support a recreational fishery.
After returning home and some after dark displays of the fish with the neighbors it was determined that this brookie would be properly wrapped and prepared for the taxidermist. That would happen sometime soon unless a bigger native brook trout was caught in the same area.
Two years later a great flood hit Parfrey’s Glen, destroying all the wooden walkways of the property, washing out the limestone trail, and blowing out the culvert and small pool this trophy was caught in. This was a notable spot to both my son and me, with memories of multiple fish and one special fish. We had made several visits to fish this spot in the summer evenings, packing sandwiches and chips for dinner, fishing until dark and return trip on the Merrimac Ferry with an ice cream cone to finish off the night. We still mention that spot to this day.
We both somewhat forgot about this fish for some time as it lay frozen in the nether world of frozen fish, venison, duck, goose, and pizza. The package was eventually rediscovered with a decision to defrost the freezer. Uncertain of what to do with the aging but frozen and preserved fish, to my surprise that angler who made the catch had a great idea that same day. My son needed an entire fish specimen for his Lodi High School 3021-3 Biology sophomore class’s extra credit.
Yes, it was March and the trout season for possession was not open, but he did have a contribution available to “donate to science!” Was the angler disappointed that his trophy wasn’t mounted on his bedroom wall? He said he really didn’t think of it… but he did really like his Biology grade being boosted to a solid B-!
Wisconsinite Chris Rehlinger is a native of Neosho but has called Lake Wisconsin home since 1998 with his wife Lori and sons Maxwell and Lucas. He works in the engineering/construction management field but always has something regarding fishing or hunting on his mind.