By Greg Carpenter

A record Fish caught by Myron Ingalls at Echo Lake
A RECORD FISH Myron Ingalls of Bellows Falls is shown with a 41 inch, 22 pound lake trout caught by him in Lake Echo which is near East Charleston, Vt., during the past week. Mrs. Ingalls netted the huge fish and had quite a job shaking the fish into the net as her husband held a taught line and his breath. This is the largest lake trout reported and it is thought to be a Vermont record. Staff Photo. Photo credit: Springfield Reporter, July 10, 1957

If you live near a body of water, you will undoubtedly hear a few fish stories. And like any body of water, Echo Lake has had a few good stories of its own. Take the 11-pounder Laker caught by W.E. Tripp in June of 1907 or the 12 1/2-pounder brought in by Emile Legere in 1963. And must we forget Austin Whitney’s 15 3⁄4-pound catch in the late spring of 1948? With a fly, no doubt! But could there be whoppers left to tell?
Take the account of Myron Ingalls and his wife Elizabeth of Bellows Falls, Vermont, who, on July 2, 1957, turned an ordinary day of fishing into a day they will likely never forget. The event begins on a mostly cloudy, 71-degree day, when the couple, who were lodging at Dan Taylor’s camp, decided to test their fishing skills. In what was described by the press as “…quite a job shaking the fish into the net”, the couple caught what was then thought to be a Vermont record fish. The trophy fish that was caught weighed slightly more than a sledgehammer at 22 pounds and was a little more than 40 USA quarters in length, at 41 inches. According to descriptions, the trout took Myron for everything he had in trying to land it. With Myron keeping his line tight and Elizabeth’s superb netting skills, the couple managed to net the huge fish.

Ken Grimes holding a fish
Ken Grimes

After the catch, Mr. Ingalls, a carpenter by trade, became quite the celebrity throughout Vermont. His story attracted plenty of attention and appeared in numerous newspapers throughout the state. The publicity led to the Springfield Reporter and the Newport Daily Express both publishing a picture of Myron holding his enormous Laker. The interest in the fish was so great at the time, that even the local Stafford’s IGA grocery store displayed his catch.
It is a different story today, as the current record holder for the largest lake trout is held by Shawn Dutil of Plainfield. Dutil, who just recently passed away, caught a 35lb. 3.2 oz. fish in nearby Lake Willoughby in 2003. Echo Lake in Charleston has seen larger Lakers caught, too. By all accounts, Ken Grimes holds the current lead with the largest documented Laker caught in the Orleans County lake. (See photo on page 5 to learn more).
Myron, who was a member of the Abenaqui Rod and Gun Clubs and Bellows Falls Rod and Gun Club didn’t have many years to enjoy his fame and notoriety as he passed away just five years later of lung cancer. Myron now lays at rest in the Oak Hills Cemetery in Bellows Falls, VT, but may his story live on.

 

 

Now hold on tight to your hat for the next fish story:

A Sketch of fishermen with flashlights in a row boat.

 

In what you could call Ripley’s Believe It or Not -the account begins with Ralph Gage and Earl Lewis. Ralph, a chiropractor, and Earl, a pharmacist, both from Newport, Vermont, ventured out on Echo Lake on May 12, 1927. Archive records state that after attending a Masonic Temple dance the night before, the two men left early the next morning to fish. After rowing out a distance and trying to get their second fishing line in the water, a large lake trout suddenly shot into their boat. Caught off guard, the two fishermen used the only thing they had handy to take down the fish- a nickel flashlight! That’s right- a flashlight. This tale gets even stranger- as later in the day the whole episode happened again! Once their celebration was over, the two friends headed home with two prize fish weighing in at 4 and 8 pounds apiece. Now, that is what you would call lucky fishermen!

Sources:
“22 LB. Laker Caught At Echo Lake” Essex County Herald, (Island Pond, VT.) June 5, 1957.
“Myron M. Ingalls” Rutland Daily Herald, (Rutland, VT.) January 8, 1963.
“News of The Day in Bellows Falls” The Brattleboro Reformer, (Brattleboro, VT.) April 26, 1961.
“Lucky Angler” The Newport Daily Express, (Newport, VT.) July 6, 1957.
“News” The Newport Daily Express, (Newport, VT.) July 30, 1957.
“Lucky Fishermen” Orleans County Monitor, (Barton, VT.) May 18, 1927.
“Notes” Essex County Herald, (Island Pond, VT.) June 7, 1912.
“Rod and Gun Club Meets” The Brattleboro Reformer, (Brattleboro, VT.) March 25, 1954.
“Record from the deep” The Burlington Free Press, (Burlington, VT.) April 27, 2003.
“12 1⁄2 Pound Trout Caught At Echo Lake” The Newport Daily Express, (Newport, VT.) July 2, 1963. “East Charleston” Newport Daily Express, (Newport, VT.) July 11, 1957.
“Ad” Orleans County Monitor, (Barton, VT.) October 28, 1928.
“East Side Pharmacy Sold by C.E. Lewis To Clarence Libby” The Newport Daily Express, (Newport, VT.) September 30, 1963. “Nothing Fishy” Vermont Sunday News, (St. Albans, VT.) June 13, 1948.
“Notes” Essex County Herald, (Island Pond, VT.) June 21, 1907.