'Huge' pygmy sets state record
The Daily Inter Lake
When it comes to record fish, "huge" can be a relative term, as local record-breaker Brent Mitchell learned this week.
The fish he caught through the ice on Little Bitterroot Lake on Jan. 28 turned out to be big by pygmy whitefish standards.
Mitchell's pygmy whitefish weighed .20 pounds (about 3.2 ounces), eclipsing the old state record of .18 pounds caught in February 1999 by Ashley Lake resident Frank Gamma.
"We were fishing for kokanee," Mitchell said in a press release issued by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Wednesday. "I wasn't catching any kokanee, but I did catch two suckers. Then I started catching what I took to be pygmy whitefish. Most of them were 6-7 inches long. We were getting ready to leave the ice and I pulled up one more whitefish."
Mitchell's friend and fishing partner, Tony Anderson, advised Mitchell to keep it.
"I was skeptical," Mitchell said, "but I kept it because he said it could be a state record."
Mitchell took the fish home and put it in the freezer.
After learning that record entries must be weighed on a certified scale, Mitchell took the fish to Meats Supply to get it weighed Wednesday. Then he brought the fish and the weight slip to Fish, Wildlife and Parks headquarters in Kalispell, where fisheries biologist Scott Rumsey certified the specimen as a state record.
Mitchell will receive a certificate when the paperwork is verified in Helena.
Mitchell's fish measures 8 inches long, exactly the same length as Gamma's old record.
The pygmy whitefish is one of three types of whitefish that live in Montana. The pygmy, along with the larger mountain whitefish, are native. The lake whitefish was introduced to Montana.
The pygmy has a very large eye in relation to its size. Pygmy whitefish live near the bottom of lakes such as Little Bitterroot, Ashley and Flathead. They feed on tiny zooplankton, bottom insects and mysis shrimp.
Mitchell reflected on his accomplishment, saying "I feel bad about beating Frank's old record, but I'll take it."