Lucky sucker sets Idaho fishing record on SF Snake River

FISHING — A fly-fisher is taking a ribbing from his buddies, but he can stand tall in his waders for making the Idaho state fishing records with a 25-inch long Utah sucker weighing 7 pounds, 13.8 ounces. 

Rick Thompson, 47, of Idaho Falls caught the fish Saturday on the South Fork of the Snake River with a No. 18 Pheasant Tail nymph, according to a story by Rob Thornberry in the Idaho Falls Post Register.

He thought he was stalking the brown trout of his dreams.

Read on for the details from Thornberry's fish story.

Rick Thompson is the new king of the suckers.

The 46-year-old Idaho Falls man broke the Idaho record for a Utah sucker Saturday, and he has taken a healthy ribbing from his friends.

“You wouldn't know how bad they are teasing me,” he said. “It is pretty comical.”

Thompson was floating the South Fork near Fall Creek when he noticed a large rising fish. His fly-fishing goal is to catch a 10-pound brown trout, and he was eager to cast a fly to the large riser.

“I snuck up on it and made a good cast,” he said.

He hooked the fish on the first cast and was certain it was a pig.

He caught it on a No. 18 pheasant tail nymph on 4-pound test.

Based on the fact that the fish didn't run away but fought hard, Thompson thought he had a large brown and not a rainbow.

“We cracked up when we found it was a sucker,” he said. “My best friend, Jeff Shainholtz, was sneaking up to net it and when he saw it was a sucker, he wouldn't even net it for me.”

Thompson caught the fish and threw the fish in the boat, planning to use it for bait.

At home, curiosity led him to the Web to check the state records.

Sure enough, his fish weighed 7 pounds, 13.8 ounces, besting the old record by 2.8 ounces.

It was 25 1/2 inches long.

“It's not the state record I'm after, but it is a state record,” he said.