Thomas Knight, an ice fisherman from Meredith, N.H., holds his 37.7-pound lake trout, the largest ever caught in New Hampshire. Knight said he had a feeling the fish he hauled onto the ice on Big Diamond Pond in West Stewartstown, N.H., last week might eclipse the previous record of 28 pounds caught in 1958. He needed a second scale when the first one he used only went up to 30 pounds.
Thomas Knight, an ice fisherman from Meredith, N.H., holds his 37.7-pound lake trout, the largest ever caught in New Hampshire. Knight said he had a feeling the fish he hauled onto the ice on Big Diamond Pond in West Stewartstown, N.H., last week might eclipse the previous record of 28 pounds caught in 1958. He needed a second scale when the first one he used only went up to 30 pounds. Credit: N.H. Fish and Game

An ice fisherman from Meredith has shattered the record for the largest lake trout ever caught in New Hampshire.

Thomas Knight had a good feeling that the trout he hauled onto the ice on Big Diamond Pond in West Stewartstown on Tuesday was bigger than the previous record-holder, a 28-lb. trout caught in 1958. The first scale he used to weigh it maxed out at 30 lbs., so he took it to a package distribution center, where he found out his catch weighed in at 37.7 lbs, according to the state Fish and Game Department.

“Most state records, when bested, are done so by only a few ounces,” said fisheries biologist Andy Schafermeyer, who estimates the 40-inch-long fish was between 50 and 60 years old. “This fish is now the largest lake trout caught in all of New England.”