Hello ALL Trophy Trout Hunters,

Another fantastic year of fishing is behind us.  It's amazing to me that a whole year has already passed us by.  And because another year has come and gone, it only means one thing.....it is time to award the TROPHY TROUT HUNTER OF THE YEAR AWARD. 

Last year, as you may recall, Dan Stewart of California blew away the list of nominees with an impressive 5 german browns over 10 lbs caught!!!  He was the inagural TTH'er of the Year and it could not have gone to a more deserving fisherman.  I was lucky enough to personally meet Dan and present him his award and let me tell you all, you could not meet a more humble, gracious person than Dan Stewart.. 

2 weeks ago, 5 of the core group of TTH'ers got together and voted on quite a list of nominees for the 2010 year.  Just to be nominated, we have stated in the past that the nominee must have caught a german brown over 10 lbs, a lake trout over 20 lbs, broken a personal record, etc.  As the voting can be very subjective, we tried to be very objective by who would win as to how much content the nominee has contributed to the TTH site.

Here’s a fun recap and summary list of some of the anglers that were nominated for the award for the year 2010:

Dan Stewart – The TTH'er of 2009 caught a 14 lb, 14 oz hookjaw out of Twin Lakes, CA.

 

Mike "Fishmanmike" Ryan – Mike caught (2) lakers over 20 lbs.  Also, in a matter of 24 hours, he caught (1) brown over 10 lbs and a lake trout over 20 lbs.  This was on his birthday weekend.  Way to celebrate!

 

Ryan Daniels – One of the core members of TTH, caught his first brown over 10 lbs this year!  Not only, that but he got his friend Dustin and his own daughter Madyson into their personal best browns of 8.5 lbs and 9 lbs, respectively.  What a year, brother!!!

 

Dan McAllister – Also a core TTH'er, Dan Caught his 3rd brown over 10 lbs and also got his friend, Chris, into his PR best brown of 8.5 lbs.  Fantastic!

 

Joe "Fish-On-Bend" Moritz – Joe caught (3) lakers over 20 lbs and caught (5) between 14.5 and 19 lbs.  This does not even include the # of 20+ lbers and 15+ lbers he caught out of his boat.  I believe there were a total of (7) lakers over 20 lbs caught out of his boat this year!  Impressive!!!

 

Monte Martin - Brother of TTH'er, Bret Martin, Caught a 20 lb laker!

 

Allen Dahlberg – Allen also got a pig laker of 20 lbs!

 

Jimmy Lewis – The Founder of Trophy Trout Hunter (aka "The Godfather) caught a pig laker of 20 lbs!

 

Oscar Hoffman - Oscar had a fantastic spring with catching a 26 lb, 2 oz  and a 16 lb 4 oz brown out of Wickiup!  This is Oscar's second brown over 25 lbs!  Incredible feat!

 

Jake Bunio – The Founder of TrophySticks, C&R'd (2) browns over 10 lbs in 20 minutes and also (1) 26 lb Lake Trout!!!  All of these fish were caught on his TrophyStick lures!  Congrats on a great season, Jake!

 

Tim Friese – Tim landed a great brown of 12 lbs, 4 oz in the Early Fall!  Great Fish!

 

Ron Lane – The Oregon State German Brown Trout Record Holder added to his tally of 10+ lb browns by getting (3) this year!  Way to go, Ron!! 

 

However, this season was special for not one, but TWO individuals.  One individual caught their first brown over 10 lbs by a HUGE margin with a 21 lb hen.  In less than one month's time, he became a brownbagger catching his 2nd brown over 10 lbs with a Hookjaw just under 15 lbs!!!  Many of you probably already know that this is Eric Cole!

As for the second individual, he was able to witness his son catching his first brown over 10 lbs.  He also caught FIVE browns over 10 lbs, adding to his amazing total of browns over 10 lbs to 36!!!  He also just happens to be the founder of the brownbaggers club and the founder of AC Plugs.  It's none other than the legendary, Allan Cole!

The voting members of TTH had quite the predicament on our hands when it came to tallying the votes.  The vote was 3 to 2, but two of the vote had a tie for both Eric AND Allan.   That was when RD made the comment "Well, can we have (2) Trophy Trout Hunters of the Year?"  We all looked at each other and went "ABSOLUTELY!"  And we all thought "How fitting and appropriate would that be for this year?"  So, we unanimously decided to award both Eric and Allan the 2010 Trophy Trout Hunters of the Year!!!  Congratuations to you both!  A legend and a legend in the making!

 

Eric Cole with His 1st Brown Over 10 lbs: a MONSTROUS 21 lb Hen out of Wickiup Reservoir!!!  He was lucky enough to have his father, Allan Cole, be his net man!  I can only imagine on how special this fish is for both of them!!! WHAT A FISH!!!!