12-year-old catches third fish of a lifetime, barely misses record
Avid fisherman Tyler Grimshaw, age 12, is in the news yet again, this time with his third fish of a lifetime, one he described as “an absolute giant.”
Tyler, fishing the Snake River with his father Lance Grimshaw and local guide Joe Weisner, landed a 9-foot, 11-inch sturgeon, and missed tying the Idaho record for a caught-and-released white sturgeon by a half inch.
The current record is 119½ inches caught by seven anglers on July 9, 2019, also on the Snake River, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Tyler’s catch in inches was 119, but he did it with no outside help, which ordinarily would make him the record-holder.
“Tyler sat on that rod and pumped that fish for 50 minutes,” Weisner told Outdoor Life. “He wasn’t about to hand that rod over to nobody. The fish jumped a total of four times. It jumped once right next to the boat—maybe 2 feet away. It was terrifying.”
“A fish of this caliber, it doesn’t come around very often,” Weisner told KTVB. “This fish was far bigger than anything I had ever seen before. I was at a loss for words it was so large. It’s one of those moments that was truly incredible.”
It was actually Tyler’s second sturgeon catch of the day; he reeled in a 7-footer in the first 20 minutes on the river. But the best, and biggest, was yet to come.
“They knew from the start of the fight that it was massive,” Vanessa Grimshaw, Tyler’s mother, told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors.
Also on FTW Outdoors: Former NHL star catches huge sturgeon claimed to be a world record
Weisner told KTVB the obvious, that Tyler hooked into a fish of a lifetime. And indeed he did. Again.
“No one has realized he is the same kid that made headlines two previous times with his 41- and 48-pound lake trout. He has gotten a ‘fish of a lifetime’ three times now.”
Each year he seems to catch a fish of a lifetime.
At age 10, Tyler landed the 41-pound lake trout from Flaming Gorge.
At age 11, Tyler landed the 48-pound lake trout from Flaming Gorge, and that was a near-record catch.
“ maybe a drop of disappointment that he didn’t beat the record ,” Vanessa told For The Win Outdoors. “He isn’t giving up. He says the record will be his eventually.”
Could that be what he does for an encore at age 13? Stay tuned.
Photos courtesy of Joe Weisner of Jones Sport Fishing.