Henry Catches State Record Smallmouth

Debbie Henry was fishing from shore with her family at Nelson Reservoir over the Memorial Day weekend when she noticed one of the fishing rods begin to severely bend in its holder.

After over 10 minutes of fighting the fish, with it nearly spooling her line and dealing with a broken net, she was able to land the new state record Smallmouth Buffalo!

The behemoth tipped the scales at a whopping 40.0 pounds! The old record was 38 pounds, also caught at Nelson Reservoir, in 2007.

Congratulations to Deb on catching a beautiful specimen of one of Montana's native fish!

Smallmouth buffalo tidbits: Smallmouth are found in rivers and impoundments in both shallow and deep water over firm bottoms, and feed mostly on aquatic insects, crustaceans, and mollusks. They can be found in the Milk, Missouri, and Yellowstone drainages in Montana.