Teen reels in a state record breaker

MIKE LOPEZ’S time had come.

The 15-year-old from Paramount had been fishing at the Santa Ana River Lakes since he was 3. Obsessed with catching the biggest trout in the lakes, he got lucky earlier this month.

“It was my first cast and I wasn’t even done putting on my boots,” recalls Lopez, who hooked up immediately. “I thought he was a small one ... then he started peeling line.”

Lopez had been denied a big fish before. But on Nov. 17, after battling the fish on 2-pound line for 20 minutes, he netted a 28.1-pound rainbow trout -- breaking the state record of 27.5 pounds, caught at the same lake two seasons ago.

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Scott Doggett