Angler breaks state record for largescale suckers

Wade Merschat, 12, of Trout Creek, used a nightcrawler to land a 6.72-pound largescale sucker from Noxon Reservoir in Sanders County on June 19. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks 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.

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