blake
Life Member
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<span style='font-size: 17pt'>Montana man ties state record by catching tiny fish</span>
The Associated Press
KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) - Here's a fish tale that could use a little exaggeration.
A Kalispell man ice fishing on Bitterroot Lake in northwestern Montana on Tuesday caught a tiny fish so big that it tied a state record.
The pygmy whitefish weighed in at only 3.7 ounces and measured all of 8 1/4 inches - but that's brawny compared to usual pygmy whitefish, which are about 4 or 5 inches in length and weigh only a few ounces.
"My arm is still hurting," joked Eric Tullett, who reeled in the fish with a glow hook and maggot. Tullett's catch tied the state record held by two other anglers, who caught 3.7-ounce pygmies in February 2005.
The bottom dwellers feed on tiny zooplankton, bottom insects and mysis shrimp. Jim Vashro, a fisheries manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, says the nonnative shrimp may be responsible for an increase in growth rates among pygmy whitefish.
PM
Ron Wyllie
Southwest Iowa IBA Area Representative
rwyllie@iowawhitetail.com
