Lauren Dunn, a first-year student at St. Michael’s College, caught a pike in Lake Champlain that might be large enough to set a world record.
Dunn’s 12-pound pike needs to be certified by the International Game Fish Association before the world record is official. The certification process takes about three months.
The process isn’t new for Dunn; the native of Lake Tahoe, California, already holds nearly 40 world records certified by the IGFA.
The northern pike that Dunn caught in Champlain is the biggest she's caught on a fly rod, she says. "Twelve pounds is awesome. It broke my previous record of 10 pounds on a fly rod, with a cutthroat trout, so it's pretty cool that this fish is upping my ante."
It took about 10 minutes for Dunn to reel the fish into her canoe, she says.
"There's sort of a technique to it, where you don't want to reel them in too fast, and have them break off. You want to tire them off a little bit so they're not fighting as hard when you bring them in," she says.
Dunn says she was struck by this season's low lake levels when she put in with her fishing guide in Burlington.
"We launched the canoe in Burlington, and it was sort of like a mud flat. And my guide, Drew Price, was telling me that normally that area can be under 6 feet of water," she says.
Dunn, whose father taught her how to fish when she was 4 years old, says Lake Champlain is different from anything she's fished before.
"I'm excited to spend four or five years here when I'm at college just fishing," she says.
However, there are many demands on Dunn's spare time: She caught the pike the day after she made her debut on the Saint Michael's women's soccer team, where she plays forward. She also competes on the school's alpine ski team.
Listen to the complete interview above.
