Youngster reels in record fish

When it comes to verifying a kid’s fishing record, the U.S. Postal Service delivers.

Hunter Drury, 7, of Tacoma landed a largemouth bass in May while casting a worm along the shoreline at Pattison Lake in Lacey. His dad got pretty excited.

The fish weighed 6 pounds on an unofficial scale. Richard Drury knew his son’s fish had a chance of being a line-test state record.

“The only certified scale close by we could think of was at the Post Office in Lacey,” said Richard. “We walked into the Post Office, not knowing what kind of reaction we would receive. I explained to the postal clerk that Hunter was going for a state record for his age and line test.

“The clerk said, ‘Bring that baby in here!’ ” Faster than express mail, the fish was officially weighed at 5 pounds 12 ounces.

The International Game Fish Association awarded Hunter with two records: The IGFA’s Washington freshwater record for 20-pound class line and also the IGFA male small-fry state record.

Montana records

A Missoulian broke Montana’s 11-year-old lake whitefish record in August with a 10.46-pounder from Flathead Lake.

The previous record was a 10.08-pounder caught out of Lower St. Mary’s Lake in June 1995.

Four other state record fish were caught in northwestern Montana this year: a pumpkinseed, a sunfish, a peamouth and a yellow perch.