Chad Doughty, age 27, of Winder hooked and battled a new state record brown trout -- weighing in at 20 pounds, 14 ounces -- for about 45 minutes while kayak fishing on the Chattahoochee River below Buford Dam on July 27. <br />
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Doughty, using a rooster tail with spinning tackle on six-pound line, had to abandon his kayak to catch the fish as his spinning reel almost ran out of line. <br />
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According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division, the 31.5-inch fish beat the existing state record, established in 2001, by two pounds, eight ounces. A new state record must be at least one ounce heavier.
