Newby Fly Angler Lands Potential Record Pike

It’s not official yet, but if the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame eventually declares Montana angler Ivan Keeney’s nearly 30-pound pike the new 15-pound-test tippet record, it seems likely that Keeney will also own a couple of unnoficial records, to boot: most inexperience fly angler to hold a FFHF record and the cheapest fly rod to land a record fish.

From the Flathead Beacon:
_About a month ago, Ivan Keeney decided to take up fly fishing. He bought a $21 fly rod and learned to cast…. Once he felt that he was proficient at fly fishing, he decided to try for pike.

The beginning fly-caster cemented his place at the upper reaches of the sport today when he landed a 47-inch, 29.7 pound pike at Smith Lake west of Kalispell. Fishing from his canoe, Keeney hooked the pike and battled it for an hour. When Keeney finally brought the huge, toothy fish close, he wrapped a jacket around his hand and arm and grabbed the pike, hauling it into the canoe. Right away he knew he might have some kind of a record catch. He had used a 5-6 weight fly line with a 15 pound-test tippet….

[FFHF] record administrators will test his 15-pound tippet and examine the application before confirming Keeney’s North American fly fishing record. Keeney plans to have his mammoth pike mounted and display it at Snappys Sport Senter.
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