BURRILLVILLE, R.I. (WPRI) — A Burrillville dad has made the catch of a lifetime.
Zachary Taylor tells 12 News he was ice fishing on Peck Pond last month when he caught a rainbow trout weighing nearly 16 pounds.
It took Taylor roughly 30 minutes to reel in the fish, which he caught through a 6-inch hole in the ice.
Taylor, who’s been fishing since he was 4 years old, reached out to the R.I. Department of Environmental Management (DEM) upon realizing he may have caught a record-breaking trout.
The DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife weighed the fish and confirmed that Taylor’s 15-pound, 12-ounce rainbow trout set a new state record for the species.
Taylor credited the DEM for his record-breaking catch, citing that Peck Pond is regularly stocked with trout for recreational fishing.
The previous state record for the rainbow trout was set back in 2020, when a 12-pound, 9-ounce fish was caught at Barber Pond in South Kingstown.