HELENA – On March 7, Steve Hagen of East Helena landed a 2.39 pound, 15.9 inch new State record Utah Chub with a girth of 10.4 inches while fishing the Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The fish beat out the previous record Utah chub – 1992’s 1.81 pound fish also caught at Canyon Ferry.
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.
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.
