HAYDEN - As Tad Mosher flips the photo album pages, there is a common theme. Each picture depicts a man, smiling with great pride, holding a large fish.

That man is Tad Mosher.

"This is over the last 10 years," he says. "There's my 12 from eight years ago. I caught a bunch of nine pounders every year except last year."

All of the fish, he explains, were caught in Hayden Lake, off shore.

Mosher displays a few more pictures of himself, comes to the final one, and closes the album cover.

It is clear he's not telling whoppers.

"After awhile I quit taking pictures of the small ones," he says.

But he's got photographic proof of his latest catch.

The 46-year-old reeled in a colorful 15-pound, 32-inch native rainbow trout from Hayden Lake about 7:30 p.m. Monday. He landed it in the Coopers Bay area using orange Powerbait with a size 18 treble hook, eight-pound line.

It was, he explains, just as the sun crested over the hill, as the sky turns dark.

"That's when I've always caught them," he says, smiling. "I've discovered that they bite just as the sun's going over the hill."

Hayden Lake is his preferred place for fishing. He estimates he's caught at least 50 seven-pounders there in the past decade.

This time, he had been out about an hour when the trout struck. He knew it was a big one because of its actions. It stayed deep and took line.

"I loosened the drag and let him run and wear himself out," Mosher said.

The battle lasted just 20 minutes, child's play compared to some two-hour wars waged between fish and this angler.

"He went belly up and I had to drag him in across the surface," he said.

When Mosher netted it, he knew it was a biggie - better than the 13-pounder he hooked about four weeks ago.

Mosher, a Hayden Lake fishermen since age 6 when his stepfather introduced him to the sport, spends four nights in the summer standing along the shore of Hayden Lake in search of rainbow trout.

He used to catch 30 a summer, he says, but now, it's far fewer, just one last year, four this year.

Still, he is not deterred from pursuing the lake's lunkers.

"I think I was born a fisherman so I keep going out," he said.

And like most anglers, he won't give away his lucky spot, for fear others will soon follow his footsteps.

"I ain't going to tell you," Mosher said.

For the most part, he angles alone with one of his 15 fishing poles and $500 worth of tackle.

While he enjoys the pleasure of casting a line to deep waters, he is serious about what he's after.

"I've always dreamed of catching the state record," he said.

That record just got bigger. It stands now at 34.74 pounds for a rainbow trout caught in July in American Falls Reservoir by Mark Adams of Pocatello.

The 41-year-old broke the old mark by 14.72 pounds.

Mosher has hooked his share of monsters of the deep, with a 14 and a half pounder caught three years ago in Hayden Lake.

"I've been trying for 10 years. They keep getting a little bit bigger," he said, smiling.

Bigger, but harder to catch, too.

Mosher, who has fibromyalgia, estimates native rainbows in Hayden lake, "are far and few in between."

He tries other lakes, but always returns to his favorite site, no matter if the fish aren't biting.

"Now, it's only Hayden," he said.

As for his latest and biggest fish, it's headed for the Mosher dinner table.

"It costs too much to have it mounted," he said.