Roger Hellen's trout is bigger than yours

Via Wisconsin DNR

Roger Hellen and his mighty big fish.

He took the 41-pound, 8-ounce freak of nature at the annual Salmon-A-Rama fishing contest on Lake Michigan.

Hellen, of Yorkville, Wis., says he used fishing tackle to land the beastie, and it took him a half-hour. But we're looking at that fish and we're pretty sure he must have hauled it aboard his boat with a meat hook and a crane.

The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame confirmed the record, but another organization called the International Game Fish Association balked at the fish story. It said Hellen has to share the title with a Michigan man who took a 41.7-pound brown trout in 2009.

Brown trout makes for pretty good eatin', but word is that Hellen's having his trophy fish stuffed at a cost of $800.

Via Wisconsin DNR

This is the one that didn't get away.