Fly fisherman lands monster pike

SEELEY LAKE – "Look Hale, they got their fishing pole snagged on something," Seeley Lake resident Laura Devins told her four-year-old son while they were out canoeing on Seeley Lake Saturday, May 2. "We were going to paddle over and see if we could help them but then we saw the line get really tight and it started to pull their boat around which was crazy. We realized it was a huge fish."

Mike Deming of Manhattan, Mont. and his fishing buddy Justin Kitto came up for a day of fishing in the area. While Deming said overall the fishing was slow, the 27 pound, 9 ounce northern pike that he landed with his nine-weight fly rod made the day one for the memory book.

Deming's family had a cabin on Boy Scout Road for 20 years. He fished the area for many years and credits "old timer" Gary Ikerd with teaching him how to fish Seeley Lake using Ikerd's lures. He has since transitioned to fly fishing for northern pike.

Deming and Kitto started on Salmon Lake in the morning and then fished Seeley Lake in the afternoon. They were mostly stripping streamers in the shallows, hitting all the weed beds and fishing the inlets.

When they were a "stone's throw from the old cabin," Deming hooked into this pike in about six feet of water.

"It was kind of symbolic," said Deming noting the irony of the location on the lake. "We were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and I was fortunate to put something close to her that she wanted to eat."

Deming credited Kitto, who was fishing in the front of the boat, for chumming up the water to engage the fish. The pike took his streamer close enough to the boat that he knew right away that it was big.

"We've been around big fish before, so we knew this was a large fish," said Deming.

The first time they got the pike close to the boat, it made another run. It took Deming more than 10 minutes to land it. Once he did, Devins along with a few others that were fishing from shore celebrated with Deming and Kitto as they held up the monster pike.

Laura said it was exciting for everyone, "I've never seen anything like that. It was perfect timing and made our day."

Hale added, "That fish was bigger than me."

Deming said it was a large female, the biggest he has ever caught in Montana. She weighed in at 27 pounds, 9 ounces on their Rapala digital scale. In hindsight, he wishes they had measured her length and girth.

"We were so excited to catch her but we wanted to get her back in the lake in the best shape we could to continue the genetic trait of producing some big fish," said Deming.

Deming said he has caught some very large fish in North Dakota. While this one was similar in the length, her large girth made her stand out.

"This was the most powerful fish that I have hooked in Montana and probably the second most powerful fish I've ever caught behind a king salmon up in Alaska," said Deming. "She was an amazing fish to catch."