Monster Trout with my Daughter

[rocka1030]

My kids love to fish so off my daughter and I went around lunch time for an hour or so to try for our first trout of the year at the canal in Lambertville. We fish this spot all the time so it is her favorite little place. She absolutely loves it and enjoys being outside with dad for any kind of fishing. Fished for about 20 minutes with no bites and then finally drifted a salmon egg past one that was hungry. Handed the rod off to her and let her fight the fish till she brought him in, 12 inches or so, she was super excited. She then casted on her own and landed another one shortly after, about the same size as the first. As soon as she says, dad we need one more for dinner and then we can throw the rest back I get slammed! Rod is bent over and line is peeling, automatically knew I had a good one on. She asks me if I hooked a truck going past the bridge and laughs and then immediately this monster comes launching out of the water at her. We are both shell shocked at the size of this fish! The battle ensued on the ultra light pole and all I can think about is that line snapping and then realizing that if I am lucky enough to get this thing close enough to pull out of the water, how the hell will I get it 4 feet up the canal wall. Meanwhile a decent crowd is gathering watching this unfold for 10 minutes or so with multiple jumps. We went from one bridge to another two or three times and finally got this fish tired enough to even attempt to get it on ground. My daughter took the rod and fought the fish while I used my stream net to scoop it up. We tried this 3-4 times with me laying on the ground just barely close enough to get it close enough in the water to land this baby. Mission accomplished! Fish of a lifetime 23.5 inches long, 15.1 inch girth. Any ideas on what it weighs? Didn't have a scale. We were able to make a memory that will last forever and so happy I had to chance to catch a fish like this with her.