Get the Grappling Hook! Another New Montana State Record Fish
Records are made to be broken. And when it comes to fish, Montana has seen its share of records fall recently.
In the past 14 months, there have been new entries for a crazy variety of biggest fish caught in the state. Some of the previous marks had been on the books for years. From the more traditional walleye, largemouth bass and brown trout to the rather unusual Utah chub and longnose sucker, Montana has placed new anglers' names at the tops of these lists. Some species have been whoppers. Others? Well, not so much.
The newest of these record holders is Pete Jellar, a longtime Flathead-area angler and lure craftsman. Pete is a panfish fan, so you can imagine what a thrill it must have been last week when he landed a pumpkinseed sunfish that he just knew was worth taking to be weighed in.
We spoke to Chancey from Chancey and Dave's Fish Camp in Kalispell, a locally-owned bait and tackle establishment. Chancey and Pete are good friends. Pete even named a plastic minnow lure after him, "Chancey's Crappie Candy." Hopefully the sunfish wasn't too offended by being fooled on a lure called Crappie Candy.
Pete brought the fish to Chancey and Dave's to be officially weighed. This is where things got a little dicey.
Chancey has a certified scale that showed the 10-inch sunfish weighed exactly one pound, but Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks would not accept it as accurate without an official "weigh stub." So with a record hanging on every fraction of an ounce lost, Pete made his way to a Kalispell Albertson's store and got official weigh stub certification of .999 pounds, barely breaking the 15-year old Montana record of .996.
And we know you've been waiting: Pete Jellar's record pumpkinseed was taken out of Flathead County's Fennon Slough near the Flathead River.
Get your Chancey's Crappie Candy and go try to be like Pete!
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