Fishing Montana's waters is enjoyed by many, but only a few anglers catch a record fish. Montana Fish Wildlife, & Parks recognizes these anglers.

I caught a record-breaker! What now?

• 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 grocery or hardware stores, etc.), witnessed by an observer. Get an affidavit from the store if no FWP official is present. Measure the length.
• Contact the nearest FWP office to have the fish positively identified and to determine if it is a state record.
• Fill out the Fish Record Form and send it to:
  • Beth Giddings
  • Fisheries Division
  • Montana Fish, Wildlife & Park
  • PO Box 200701
  • Helena, MT 59620-0701

Montana Record Table

• To view the girth and bait tackle columns, please download the Montana Fish Records ( 87 KB).
• For more information contact the FWP Fisheries Division at: (406) 444-7815 or e-mail Beth Giddings
• The * denotes Montana native fish.

Montana Fish Records as of June 27, 2008

Fish	Length (inches)	Weight	Date	Site	Angler
Arctic Grayling*	20	3.63 lbs.	6/28/03	Washtub Lake	Glenn Owens
Big Mouth Buffalo*	40.7	57.75 lbs.	6/4/94	Nelson Reservoir	Craig D. Grassel
Black Bullhead	14.37	2.60 lbs.	6/2/09	Smiley Slough	Birrell White
Black Crappie	16.7	3.13 lbs.	1973	Tongue River Reservoir	Al Elser
Bluegill	11	2.64 lbs.	6/3/83	Peterson's Stock Dam	Brent Fladmo
Blue Sucker	29.75	11.46 lbs.	10/7/89	Yellowstone River Miles City	Doug Askin
Brook Trout		9.06 lbs.	1940	Lower Two Medicine Lake	John R. Cook
Brown Trout		29 lbs.	1966	Wade Lake	E.H. Peck Bacon
Bull Trout *	37	25.63 lbs.	1916		James Hyer
Burbot *	39	17.08 lbs.	4/18/89	Missouri River Wolf Point	Jeff Eugene Iwen
Common Carp	38	40.2 lbs.	5/24/98	Nelson Reservoir	Jared S. Albus
Channel Catfish*	37.6	30.12 lbs.	5/8/09	Missouri River/ Fred Robinson Bridge	Jessey Perry
Chinook Salmon	38	31.13 lbs.	10/2/91	Fort Peck Reservoir Face of Dam	Carl L. Niles
Cisco	17.2	1.75 lbs.	5/19/01	Below Fort Peck Powerhouse	Curt Zimmerman
Coho Salmon	25.5	4.88 lbs.	5/29/73	Fort Peck Reservoir Face of Dam	Irven F. Stohl
Common Carp	38	40.2 lbs.	5/24/98	Nelson Reservoir	Jared S. Albus
Cutthroat Trout*		16 lbs	1955	Red Eagle Lake	Wm. D. Sands
Emerald Shiner	3.43	0.01 lbs.	6/9/06	Park Grove Bridge	Ike Braaten
Flathead Chub *	11.2	0.59 lbs.	4/29/01	Thornton Pond	Douglas Jordan
Freshwater Drum *	29.5	21.59 lbs.	5/3/03	Fort Peck- Ghost Coulee	Matt Washut
Golden Trout	23.5	5.43 lbs.	7/16/00	Cave Lake	Mike Malixi
Goldeye *		3.18 lbs.	7/4/00	Nelson Reservoir	Don Nevrivy
Green Sunfish	9.0	0.84 lbs.	5/25/09	Hickson's Pond	Bette Schmieding
Kokanee Salmon	26.8	7.85 lbs	9/23/03	Hauser Lake	John Bomar
Lake Trout	42.5	42.69 lbs.	6/23/04	Flathead Lake	Ruth Barber
Lake Whitefish	27	10.46 lbs.	8/26/06	Flathead Lake	Swan T. McDonald V
Largemouth Bass	22.5	8.80 lbs.	5/2/09	Noxon Rapids Reservoir	Darin Williams
Largescale Sucker *	23.1	6.16 lbs.	6/27/08	Woodland Pond	Kevin Fraley
Longnose Sucker *		3.27 lbs.	5/8/88	Marias River Loma	Ray Quigley
Mottled Sculpin *		0.05 lbs.	7/30/01	Belt Creek	Brad Sullivan
Mountain Sucker *	6.2	1.60 oz.	4/23/01	Beaver Creek Reservoir	Robert Garwood
Mountain Whitefish *	23	5.11 lbs.	10/10/07	Hauser Reservoir	Walt Goodman
Northern Pike		37.5 lbs.	1972	Tongue River Reservoir	Lance Moyer
Northern Pikeminnow *	27.125	7.88 lbs.	5/28/91	Noxon Rapids Reservoir	Darrel Torgrimson
Paddlefish *	77	142.5 lbs.	5/20/73	Missouri River Near Kipp Park	Larry Branstetter
Pallid Sturgeon *		60 lbs.	5/13/79	Yellowstone River Near Sidney	Gene Sattler
Peamouth *	16 1/8	1.52 lbs.	7/29/07	Clark Fork River	Mike Jensen
Pumpkinseed		0.96 lbs.	7/30/06	Upper Thompson Lake	Nathan Bache
Pygmy Whitefish (tie record) *	8.75 9 8.25	0.23 lbs.	2/27/05 2/27/05 3/17/09	Little Bitterroot Lake	Kevin Hadley Troy Fraley Eric Tullett
Rainbow Trout	38.62	33.1 lbs.	8/11/97	Kootenai River David Thompson Bridge	Jack G. Housel, Jr.
Rainbow-Cutthroat Hybrid Trout	35.75	30.25 lbs.	5/16/82	Ashely Lake	Pat Kelley
Redside Shiner *	6.5	0.10 lbs.	8/21/01	Lost Lake	Josh Ahles
River Carpsucker *	24	6.95 lbs	8/15/08	Fort Peck Reservoir	Brady Miller
Rock Bass	8.6	0.57 lbs.	6/1/89	Tongue River Reservoir	Don Holzheimer
Sauger *	28.2	8.805 lbs.	12/12/94	Fort Peck Reservoir	Gene Moore
Saugeye		15.66 lbs.	1/11/95	Fort Peck Reservoir Squaw Creek	Myron Kibler
Shorthead Redhorse *	20.25	4.68 lbs.	4/14/85	Marias River Near Loma	Ray Quigley
Shortnose Gar *	34	7.02 lbs.	12/22/03	Fort Peck Dredge Cuts	Ron Gulbertson
Shovelnose Sturgeon *	39.5	13.72 lbs.	4/19/86	Missouri River Near Virgelle	Sidney Storm
Smallmouth Bass	21	6.66 lbs.	7/30/02	Fort Peck Reservoir	Mike Otten
Smallmouth Buffalo *	38	38 lbs.	4/28/07	Nelson Reservoir	Brady Miller
Stonecat *	10	0.54 lbs.	6/16/96	Milk River	Dale Bjerga
Tiger Muskellunge	46	28.87 lbs.	7/10/06	Deadman's Basin Reservoir	Marty Storfa
Tiger Trout	20.6	4.04 lbs.	2/9/97	Bear Lake	Joe Sobczak
Utah Chub		1.81 lbs.	2/5/92	Canyon Ferry Reservoir	Eugene Bastian
Walleye	35	17.75 lbs.	11/18/07	Tiber Reservoir	Robert Bob Hart
White Bass	17	2.8 lbs.	10/13/07	Missouri River South of Bainville	Vernon Pacovsky
White Crappie	18.5	3.68 lbs.	5/10/96	Tongue River	Gene Bassett
White Sturgeon *		96 lbs.	1968	Kootenai River	Herb Stout
White Sucker *	21.625	5.33 lbs.	2/10/83	Nelson Reservoir	Fred Perry
Yellow Bullhead	11.8	0.93 lbs.	5/24/98	Tongue River Reservoir	Carl Radonski
Yellow Perch	14.375	2.39 lbs.	2/19/06	Lower Stillwater Lake	Josh Emmert

Updated on October 20, 2008
* Denotes Montana native fish.