New Montana fish record caught

East Helena man catches new chub record

MONTANA LIVING — Steve Hagen of East Helena reeled in a record Utah chub on March 7 from Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The fish weighed in at 2.39 pounds and measured 15.9 inches in length and 10.4 inches in girth. The previous record Utah chub, caught at Canyon Ferry in 1992, weighed 1.81 pounds.

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Hagen’s catch adds to the list of Montana record fish caught in the last year and a half including a walleye, a chinook salmon, a smallmouth bass, a yellow bullhead, a brown trout, a longnose sucker, and a largemouth. (See the list of Montana fish records below.)

With a total of 91 native and introduced fish species found in Montana, interest in fish records has increased in recent years. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks maintains the list of record fish, and it is available on FWP’s website at https://fwp.mt.gov/fish/anglingData/records.

Anglers who think they caught a state record fish should keep the following things in mind:

  • To prevent loss of weight, do not clean or freeze the fish. Keep the fish cool — preferably on ice.

  • Take a picture of the fish.

  • The fish must be weighed on a certified scale (found in grocery stores or hardware stores, etc.) and witnessed by a store employee or other observer. Obtain a weight receipt and an affidavit from the store personnel if no FWP official is present. Measure the length and girth.

  • Contact the nearest FWP office to have the fish positively identified by a fisheries biologist.

 MONTANA STATE FISH RECORDS

Fish

Length (inches)

Weight

Date

Site

Angler

Arctic Grayling

20

3.63 lbs.

6/28/03

Washtub Lake

Glenn Owens

* Big Mouth Buffalo

40.7

57.75 lbs.

6/4/94

Nelson Reservoir

Craig D. Grassel

Black Bullhead

14.37

2.60 lbs.

6/2/09

Smiley Slough

Birrell

Black Crappie

16.7

3.13 lbs.

1973

Tongue River Reservoir

Al Elser

Bluegill

11

2.64 lbs.

6/3/83

Peterson's Stock Dam

Brent Fladmo

Blue Sucker

34.56

13.29 lbs.

4/19/19

Marias River 

Jason Karls

Brook Trout

 

9.06 lbs.

1940

Lower Two Medicine Lake

 John R. Cook

Brown Trout

37

32.42 lbs.

3/3/21

Marias River

Robbie Dockter

* Bull Trout

37

25.63 lbs.

1916

 

James Hyer

* Burbot

39

17.08 lbs.

4/18/89

Missouri River Wolf Point

Jeff Eugene Iwen

* Channel Catfish

38.75

35.18 lbs.

7/7/19

Colstrip Surge Pond

John D. Smith

Chinook Salmon

38-1/8

32.05 lbs.

08/16/20

Fort Peck Reservoir

Greg Haug

Cisco

18.2

2.08 lbs.

6/2/14

Missouri River

Troy Holstein

Coho Salmon

25.5

4.88 lbs.

5/29/73

Fort Peck Reservoir Face of Dam

Irven F. Stohl

Common Carp

38

40.2 lbs.

5/24/98

Nelson Reservoir

Jared S. Albus

Creek Chub

11

0.52 lbs.

5/12/13

Harbaugh Bass Pond

William Bibeau

* Cutthroat Trout

 

16 lbs

1955

Red Eagle Lake

Wm. D. Sands

Emerald Shiner

3.43

0.01 lbs.

6/9/06

Park Grove Bridge

Ike Braaten

Fathead Minnow

 

2.7 .01 lbs.

5/30/14

Dollar Lake

Chris Gustine

* Flathead Chub

11.2

0.59 lbs.

4/29/01

Thornton Pond

Douglas Jordan

* Freshwater Drum

29.5

21.59 lbs.

5/3/03

Fort Peck- Ghost Coulee

Matt Washut

Golden Trout

23.5

5.43 lbs.

7/16/00

Cave Lake

Mike Malixi

* Goldeye

 

3.18 lbs.

7/4/00

Nelson Reservoir

Don Nevrivy

Green Sunfish

9.0

0.84 lbs.

5/25/09

Hickson's Pond

Bette Schmieding

Kokanee Salmon

26.8

7.85 lbs. 

9/23/03 

Hauser Lake

John Bomar

Lake Chub*

5.9

0.075 lbs.

7/23/10

Corner Lake

James Cashell

Lake Trout

42.5

42.69 lbs.

6/23/04

Flathead Lake

Ruth Barber

Lake Whitefish

27

10.46 lbs.

8/26/06

Flathead Lake

Swan T. McDonald V

Largemouth Bass

22.5

9.58 lbs.

4/24/21

Lake Elmo

Brandon Wright

* Largescale Sucker

23.1

6.16 lbs.

6/27/08

Woodland Pond

Kevin Fraley

* Longnose Sucker

19.50

4.21 lbs.

5/17/21

Holter Lake

Austin Wargo

Mottled Sculpin -- See Rocky Mountain Sculpin

* Mountain Sucker

6.2

1.60 oz.

4/23/01

Beaver Creek Reservoir

Robert Garwood

* Mountain Whitefish

23

5.11 lbs.

10/10/07

Hauser Reservoir

Walt Goodman

Northern Pike

 

37.5 lbs.

8/29/1971

Tongue River Reservoir

Lance Moyer

* Northern Pikeminnow

27.125

7.88 lbs.

5/28/91

Noxon Rapids Reservoir

Darrel Torgrimson

* Paddlefish

77

142.5 lbs.

5/20/73

Missouri River Near Kipp Park

Larry Branstetter

* Pallid Sturgeon

 

60 lbs.

5/13/79

Yellowstone River Near Sidney

Gene Sattler

* Peamouth

16 1/8

1.52 lbs.

7/29/07

Clark Fork River

Mike Jensen

Pumpkinseed

 

0.96 lbs.

7/30/06

Upper Thompson Lake

Nathan Bache

Pygmy Whitefish

9.84

0.36 lbs.

2/13/10

Little Bitterroot Lake

Richard Geldrich

Rainbow Smelt 7.1 0.08 lbs. 2/18/20 Fort Peck Dredge Cuts Nathan Cooper

Rainbow Trout

38.62

33.1 lbs.

8/11/97

Kootenai River David Thompson Bridge

Jack G. Housel, Jr.

Rainbow-Cutthroat Hybrid Trout

35.75

30.25 lbs.

5/16/82

Ashely Lake

Pat Kelley

* Redside Shiner

6.5

0.10 lbs.

8/21/01

Lost Lake

Josh Ahles

* River Carpsucker

24

6.95 lbs

8/15/08

Fort Peck Reservoir

Brady Miller

Rock Bass

10.8

1.31 lbs.

4/26/14

Lower Crazy Head Springs Pond

Karson Campbell

* Rocky Mountain Sculpin

 

0.05 lbs.

7/30/01

Belt Creek

Brad Sullivan

* Sauger

28.2

8.805 lbs.

12/12/94

Fort Peck Reservoir

Gene Moore

Saugeye

 

15.66 lbs.

1/11/95

Fort Peck Reservoir Squaw Creek

Myron Kibler

* Shorthead Redhorse

20.25

4.68 lbs.

4/14/85

Marias River Near Loma

Ray Quigley

* Shortnose Gar

35

7.41 lbs.

5/16/13

Fort Peck Dredge Cuts

Brandon Hansard

* Shovelnose Sturgeon

39.75

14.125 lbs.

5/21/10

Missouri River

Chad Buck

Smallmouth Bass

22.0

7.84 lbs.

10/3/20

Fort Peck Reservoir

Theron Thompson

* Smallmouth Buffalo

38

38 lbs.

4/28/07

Nelson Reservoir

Brady Miller

Spottail Shiner

3

0.02 lbs.

8/14/10

Tiber Reservoir

Joe Hagengruber

* Stonecat

10

0.54 lbs.

6/16/96

Milk River

Dale Bjerga

Tiger Muskellunge

50

38.75 lbs.

9/2/11

Deadman's Basin Reservoir

Leo Cantin

Tiger Trout

20.6

4.04 lbs.

2/9/97

Bear Lake

Joe Sobczak

Utah Chub

 

1.81 lbs.

2/5/92

Canyon Ferry Reservoir

Eugene Bastian

Walleye

32.25

18.02 lbs.

5/10/21

Holter Lake

Trevor Johnson

White Bass

17

2.8 lbs.

10/13/07

Missouri River South of Bainville

Vernon Pacovsky

White Crappie

18.5

3.68 lbs.

5/10/96

Tongue River

Gene Bassett

* White Sturgeon

 

96 lbs.

1968

Kootenai River

Herb Stout

* White Sucker

21.625

5.33 lbs.

2/10/83

Nelson Reservoir

Fred Perry

Yellow Bullhead

15.5

1.910 lbs.

12/17/20

Tongue River Reservoir

Roberta Legge

Yellow Perch

14.375

2.39 lbs.

2/19/06

Lower Stillwater Lake

Josh Emmert

Records current as of March 9, 2022


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