Samuel Grisak, a 15-year-old fisherman from Great Falls, MT is being celebrated for catching a state record Golden Shiner on July 3rd at Giant Springs Pond in Giant Springs State Park.
Golden shiners are a non-native minnow that doesn’t get particularly large, and Grisak’s catch is the first one submitted to Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks’ record book.
His trophy fish came in at a whopping 0.3 pounds and measured 4.41 inches in length with a girth of 2.6 inches. He must have had to really work hard to reel that sucker in.
All jokes aside, I love that this is a story I’m able to report on. Fishing is one of those sports that has a lot of weird intricacies, and learning that somebody set a state-record with a fish that fits in the palm of a 15-year-old’s hand gave me a good chuckle this morning.
Full press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks below:
STATE RECORD GOLDEN SHINER CAUGHT IN GIANT SPRINGS STATE PARK
Jul 8, 2022 11:58 AM
GREAT FALLS – Samuel Grisak, a 15-year-old angler from Great Falls caught a new state record golden shiner on July 3 from Giant Springs Pond in Giant Springs State Park. Grisak’s fish weighed .03 pounds and measured 4.41 inches in length with a girth of 2.6 inches and was caught on a dry fly. This is the first golden shiner submitted to FWP’s fish record book.
Golden shiners are non-native members of the minnow family, and found in scattered locations across central, eastern, and southeastern Montana.
Grisak’s catch adds to the growing list of new Montana record fish caught in the last year and a half including a Utah chub, a walleye, a chinook salmon, a smallmouth bass, a yellow bullhead, a brown trout, a longnose sucker, and a largemouth bass.
With a total of 91 native and introduced fish species found in Montana, interest in fish records has increased in recent years. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks maintains the list of record fish, and it is available on FWP’s website at https://fwp.mt.gov/fish/anglingData/records.
Anglers who think they caught a state record fish should keep the following things in mind:
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To prevent loss of weight, do not clean or freeze the fish. Keep the fish cool — preferably on ice.
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Take a picture of the fish.
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The fish must be weighed on a certified scale (found in grocery stores or hardware stores, etc.) and witnessed by a store employee or other observer. Obtain a weight receipt and an affidavit from the store personnel if no FWP official is present. Measure the length and girth.
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Contact the nearest FWP office to have the fish positively identified by a fisheries biologist.
