Interesting article, Sandy ...
... thanks for posting the link.
A friend of mine, from my time in the Idaho Falls area, took a 28.5" brown on the South Fork east of Ririe a few years ago and a friend of his landed one that went almost 32" a few miles further upstream a couple weeks later. A bit further east, in a beaver pond on an interesting spring creek, there was a brown that a couple of us estimated at 30-32". I bounced nymphs off his nose a couple times, but he didn't seem to notice. That was about six years ago.
Some big browns in the North Fork, also. I hooked and lost one four years ago that probably went 28" plus or minus. And in the mainstem Snake below Idaho Falls, both browns and rainbows in the mid 20"s are pretty common.
Dan Garren ( now there is a really interesting guy ) makes the point about the mainstem Snake being an underutilized fishery. Access is an issue, and a lot of the area really isn't a very pretty setting for fishing, especially compared to most sections on the North and South Forks, but if you are looking for BIG trouts, you need to talk to some of the folks at Jimmy's All Seasons Angler in Idaho Falls. I believe all of that water is now open year round.
John
