Top ‘Big Fish’ Stories of 2024
Daniel Whitesitt’ of Post Falls landed a new catch-and-release state record for Westslope cutthroat trout while fishing the Clark Fork River.
Photo courtesy Idaho Fish and Game
From two catfish records broken less than three weeks apart (by the same angler) to one of the “smallest” state record fish ever caught in Idaho, it’s time to wrap up the top “big fish” stories from 2024.
In total, 2024 had seven new state records, which included four certified-weight records and three new catch-and-release records. Making the cut this year are the following angler trophy stories.
Channel 2
Lucas Barnett knew he had hauled up a monster channel catfish Oct. 7, a 34 ¼-inch tank that had been calling Caldwell’s Rotary Pond home for quite some time. Lucas was so confident that the fat cat might wind up being the new state catch-and-release record that he submitted the state record application later that day.
Before State Sportfish Coordinator Martin Koenig could even process the Oct. 7 application, he received another telegram from the same angler — this time reporting an even larger 37 ½-inch channel catfish from the same pond caught Nov. 1.
Amazingly enough, both records would have put Lucas at the top of the state catch-and-release record board, edging out the previous record-holder by an inch or two. But it was the second catfish that ultimately solidified his name in the record books.
Tiger King
In yet another incredulous record fish story that passed torches in a matter of weeks, Montpelier resident Austin Christensen capped off his June 1 fishing trip with a 27 ¼-inch tiger trout. (For those unfamiliar, a tiger trout is a sterile hybrid between a brown trout and a brook trout.) Christensen was fishing his home waters of Montpelier Reservoir when he landed the 9.13-pound trout, clinching a new certified weight state record.
Funny enough, Christensen’s tiger trout snuffed out fellow Montpelier resident Tyson Lutz’s record tiger trout ... which had been caught just 15 days earlier. Lutz had hauled in his 8.3-pounder May 17 from, you guessed it, Montpelier Reservoir.
Tiger trout were introduced to Montpelier Reservoir in 2016 and can be found in a few select places across Idaho. You can find stocking information using the Idaho Fishing Planner and learn more about state record fish here.
It’s a beaut, Clark
Westslope cutthroat trout are found in rivers (and some lakes) primarily throughout central and northern Idaho. They rarely exceed 20 inches, making Daniel Whitesitt’s April 13 catch a memorable one.
Whitesitt, of Post Falls, landed a new catch-and-release state record for Westslope cutthroat trout while fishing the Clark Fork River in northern Idaho. After landing the fish, Daniel recorded the required measurements and photos to document the fish's impressive length before releasing the trout to fight another day.
At 25 inches long, Daniel's fish eclipsed the previous record of 24 inches set by Madison Nackos in 2021 from nearby Priest Lake.
Cutthroat trout are Idaho's state fish, and the Westslope cutties are one of three subspecies native to the state, along with the Bonneville and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. If you’re looking for a little cutthroat inspiration, check out these cool native trout in this new short film, "A Cutthroat Story."
The smallest state record 'big fish'
Here we go again with another Westslope cutthroat trout story, but this time it was tipping scales the other way.
Chubbuck angler Spencer Smith was wetting a line up at Alpine Creek Lake No. 14 in the Sawtooth Mountains, enjoying a warm, August day with little to no hopes of hooking anything record-worthy.
Now, before you accuse me of hot-spotting this one, Alpine Lake No. 14 isn’t your neighborhood fishing pond. You won’t find a parking lot, vault toilet or even a campground for miles. This alpine mountain like is like many other lakes found in the Sawtooth Mountains — remote, charming and holding mountain cutthroats.
However, it happened to be Spencer Smith’s luck that fine August day when he hooked what he immediately thought might be a contender for a state certified weight record Westslope cutthroat trout.
While this trout’s size may not be impressive, the effort needed to certify it as a record sure it. Smith was successful in reeling in the 11-inch cutthroat, but then proceeded to pack the fish out of the mountains and had it weight at a certified scale near his home in Pocatello.
When the record application got dropped on Fish and Game Sportfish Coordinator Koenig’s desk later that week, the 0.56-pound fish marked the first Westslope cutthroat trout that made it into the certified-weight record books since 2016 when Fish and Game started keeping separate records for each sub-species (Westslope, Bonneville, Yellowstone cutthroat trout).
"Back in 2016, we overhauled the State Record Fish Program and started awarding catch-and-release records, but we also made other changes," Koenig said. "One of those included making separate categories for each of the cutthroat trout sub-species. Westslope cutthroat are catch and release in most places, so it took a while before we got a certified-weight record application for a Westslope cutthroat trout.”