Off the top, congratulations. That's a trophy brown trout any day of the week. I think it's very cool you guys released the fish too. Not many people do release those big browns.

I gave some thought to the fish handling aspect of it. I could see how a big brown could be a hard fish to deal with in the boat. One because they like to twist around a lot, two because you're probably using a lure with three treble hooks on it, and three because that lure with all the hooks is probably not completely inside the fish's mouth.

On the one hand I was thinking that if you wanted to release a big brown, the way to net it would be using a cradle like guys use for musky and pike:

http://www.lakesuperiorstore.com/store/images/Fishing/nets/6494820%20cradle%20net.jpg

On the other hand, your lure would probably get hopelessly snagged in the cradle as the fish thrashes around. The same would probably be true of any of the finer mesh nets, which are so much better for catch and release fishing.

I know when I bought my first big net, the Promar net with the grey mesh, the mesh was so fine that I had to give up on it because hooks would get tangled every single time. I use the black mesh on the Promar net now and still get some tangles, but bass tend to just lay in that net and not move because they feel well supported (as opposed to nets with wide mesh where bass will twist and turn because the mesh is cutting in to them).

Here's a pic showing the grey and black mesh versions of the Promar Grande Halibut/Salmon release net

http://www.americanmaple.com/relaunchpromar/images/ln-501-b.jpg

As far as weighing a fish like that goes, boy I don't know... I don't think trout handle being weighed by the jaw or through the gill very well. My only thought would be to weigh the trout in the net and subtract the weight. Or maybe, after removing the hook, put the fish in a cradle and weigh it from there? I don't see any real easy way to weigh and release a big brown like that.

In any case, you guys are obviously on the right track. I suspect that trophy brown fishing is a lot like trophy bass fishing in that a small group of people is catching the majority of the big browns. Maybe next year you'll catch the same fish you release this year and validate that your release methods are working. Maybe you'll never see them again which could be an indication that it's time to try some other release methods. At least what you guys are doing is a step in the right direction, and I applaud you for that. Big browns are awesome fish.