Reported by the Billings Gazzette: Luke Spaete didn’t win Tackle Tom’s ice fishing derby at Lake Cascade, but he got a pretty good consolation prize — the new state record perch. Spaete’s fish weighed 2 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 15.75 inches, topping the old record of 2 pounds, 9.6 ounces and 15.5 inches that was first set in 1976 at Wilson Lake in Jerome County.
That record was tied in 2012, and the tying fish was also caught at Lake Cascade.
It was not a case of beginner’s luck. Spaete, of Boise, has spent about 10 days fishing at Lake Cascade this winter.
Spaete and other ice anglers have consistently been pulling fish weighing more than 2 pounds from the reservoir, and it’s been expected for several years to produce the next state record.
Spaete was fishing on Feb. 15 during the tournament and had landed 13-inch and 14-inch perch when he saw a bigger fish appear on his fish finder at about 25 feet.
“All of the sudden all the little ones went away, and this giant mark showed up,” he said. “It was one giant blob, and I thought, ‘Don’t miss this one.’ ”
The fish hit his lure, a Hali Slender Spoon, which had a small, light hook, and Spaete worried the hook might straighten before he got the fish to the surface. When he pulled it through the ice, “its belly and dorsal fin were scraping the sides of the 8-inch hole,” he said.