Fishing for fun

WOODS BAY — Troy Miller, 22, of Anaconda may have had the first catch of the day Thursday — before even boarding a boat — during the 19th annual Fishing Without Barriers Day.

Under a bright sun, Miller began fishing from the dock at Hidden Harbor Marina in Woods Bay while waiting for a boat to take him out on the lake.

Casting his line, he noticed three bites before his bobber was tugged below the water. Excited, he reeled in a small northern pikeminnow.

Miller, however, had bigger fish to pursue on Flathead Lake, so with the help of James Everett of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, he released the fish back into the water, where it darted from view.

“This is a wonderful event,” Everett said. “People come out and fish who normally would not be able to do so without assistance.”

Fishing Without Barriers Day is a free event open to anglers with disabilities.

The biggest catch of the day came from 84-year-old Donna Commers of Bigfork.

Stepping off a boat after spending about 45 minutes on the lake, Commers was quickly surrounded by people eager to glimpse her fish: a 37-inch lake trout weighing about 15 pounds. After taking photos, her daughter Barbara Gaut carried the fish away to put it on ice while Commers sat down.

“I’ve been fishing all my life,” Commers said. “When my children were little, we went all the time.”

Brent Futrell, 37, of Libby, also has been fishing for many years.

“I came out just to get relaxed and have lots of fun,” Futrell said. “There are tons of fish out here.”

Six boats provided by volunteers took shifts of anglers of all ages and abilities onto the lake. A total of 60 anglers participated in the special fishing day.

Anglers ended up catching 25 lake trout and several smaller fish dockside in time for the afternoon fish fry and barbecue, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman John Fraley.

Fraley helped organize Fishing Without Barriers, which was sponsored by the state wildlife agency’s Crossing the Barriers Committee and the Montana Charter Boat Association.

“What we try to do is try to give them the same opportunities other people have,” Fraley said. “We had a lot of folks coming to us wanting to have opportunities to fish.”