TC fish a state record

The new Montana record largescale sucker was caught right here in Sanders County. Wade Merschat of Trout Creek landed a 6.72-pound largescale sucker from the Noxon Reservoir on June 19. "The river bottom is covered with suckers right now," the 12-year-old said. "I saw the big fish, threw my line out and got the perfect drift." He said he was only using 6-pound monofilament and the fish got into some tree branches when he was reeling it in, so he had to be careful not to break the line.

Merschat was fishing with Colin Norton, who is an apprentice at Merschat's dad Josh's guide business, Waypoint Outfitters. Merschat said he goes fishing every day, and his dad takes him before and after school during the school year. "I just love the sport and hanging out with the fish and seeing what they eat," Merschat added. He fishes a lot with his friend TJ as well.

Because it was late when he caught the fish on June 19, Merschat said they kept the fish on ice in a cooler and called Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks the next day to see if it was of record size. FWP biologists verified the state record and issued Merschat his state record certificate on July 1. The fish measured 25.25 inches long.

The previous record was 6.16 pounds set in June 2008 from Woodland Park Pond in Kalispell. It measured 23.1 inches long.

The sucker family is the third largest family of fish in Montana with nine species, behind only the minnow and salmonid (trout) families. The largescale sucker is native to Montana's western drainage. In Montana, the maximum size is usually less than 5 pounds.

When asked how it feels to be a state record holder, Merchant said "it feels just like any other day." He expressed that he has other goals for fishing. "I want to catch a 40-pound rainbow in South America. I also want to catch a 45-inch pike," he said, adding that the biggest he has caught is 42 inches. Merschat also fly fishes in mountain streams. "I want to catch a bull trout over 30 inches," he stated.

Merschat also isn't done fishing for large suckers. "I'm going to try to get a bigger one. I did some research and the world record is only 8.4 pounds. I'm going to try to break that," he explained.

Merschat wants to fish professionally when he grows up. "I do local bass tournaments and I want to get into the Bassmaster Junior class and the Bassmaster Elite," which is the highest level of professional bass fishing tournaments.

FWP maintains the list of record fish online at https://fwp.mt.gov/fish/anglingData/records.

Anglers who think they may have caught a state record fish should take the following steps:

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.

Weigh the fish on a certified scale (found in a grocery store, hardware store, etc.), 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.