Casa de Oro Resident Nets Record Trout at Lake Cuyamaca

On the morning of May 27, Casa de Oro resident Dennis McCreight was nervous. A year earlier, he had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, and he was awaiting an angiogram in only a few days time.

His wife, Linda, in an effort to lift his spirits a bit, suggested the couple do something they’ve done dozens of times before, but not for a few months: head to Lake Cuyamaca near Julian for some trout fishing.

“We went on Friday, had fun, caught our limit and came home,” said McCreight, 69. “She begged me to go back on Saturday, so we did.”

And McCreight is ever so glad they decided to return.

On Saturday, May 28, McCreight, hooked into a 14-pound rainbow trout, setting a new record for the lake. The fish measured a whopping 32 inches.

McCreight, whose biggest freshwater catch from the lake previously had been 4 pounds, said that he knew he had a large fish on immediately; he just didn’t know how big.

“I knew within a short while that I had a pretty good one,” he said, “but it wasn’t till the last couple minutes of the fight when I really realized what size it was.”

The fish wasn’t netted without a fight, taking “four pretty good runs” on McCreight during the 10- to 15-minute battle. He said that two times the fish almost spooled the reel (essentially swimming away and pulling out all of the fishing line on a reel). Because the 3-pound test line was being strained, McCreight had to masterfully work with the fish, and exercise patience and timing when reeling in order to not snap the line and risk losing the monster.

At the end of the fight, McCreight said the fish made one more run, about 75 feet away from shore and jumped out of the water.

“When he jumped, the heart started going a little faster,” he said.

Once the fish was close enough to net, it was Linda who did the honors, hoisting the massive rainbow out of the water.

“Linda and I were both a little excited, but I think she was even more excited than I was,” he admits.

After taking a few photos, the couple took the fish to the ranger’s station at the lake to get it officially weighed and measured. The total weight was 14.8 pounds, and the rangers confirmed it was a new record.

The massive rainbow trout was caught using an Ultralite rod and salmon peach Powerbait. McCreight said he had been experimenting all day with different kinds of Powerbait to see what was hitting best.

Due to Lake Cuyamaca rules, the fish could not be released, so the McCreights did what any good angler would do in a situation like that.

“He’s delicious! I can tell you that,” McCreight said. “I had to filet it like a tuna, and we were able to get 12 whole meals out of him.”

A replica mounting of the fish is currently being made so Dennis and Linda will always be able to remember why there are so glad they decided to return for that extra day of fishing at Lake Cuyamaca.