Anglers battle tough conditions in Koocanusa Salmon & Trout Derby

SCOTT SHINDLEDECKER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 10 months AGO

A change in the weather may have made fishing in the Lake Koocanusa Derby difficult, but some anglers managed to pull some nice rainbow trout from the reservoir on May 20-21. The top six were Jeff Miller, Rob Dearman, Mike Babbit, Brenda McCully, Dave Chichester and James Butts. (Photo courtesy Koocanusa Resort and Marina)

Judy Baxter of Lethbridge, Alberta watches as Libby resident Jessie Mugford weighs a mess of kokanee salmon she and her husband, Tim, caught during the Lake Koocanusa Fishing Derby on May 20-21. The fish weighed 3.54 pounds, out of the money, but enough for the smoker. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

Isaiah McCall shows off a 2.4 pound rainbow trout he caught during the Lake Koocanusa Fishing Derby on the weekend of May 20-21. McCall lives in Spokane, but he is a native of Ronan, Montana. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

An angler waits for his fishing partner to bring the truck to the dock to trailer their boat during the Lake Koocanusa Fishing Derby on the weekend of May 20-21. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

A change in the weather made fishing very difficult for the hundreds of anglers who tried their luck at the 21st annual Lake Koocanusa Trout and Salmon Derby on May 20-21.

Nevertheless, the diehards still managed to pull some good rainbow trout from the reservoir as well as some tasty kokanee salmon.

Three anglers boated rainbow trout that earned them each more than $1,000.

Jeff Miller’s 6.5 pound fish netted him $1,843 while Rob Dearman caught a 6.2 pound trout worth $1,316. Mike Babbit boated a 5.3 ‘bow worth $1,052.

Rounding out the top six were Brenda McCully’s 4.9 pounder that was worth $526, Dave Chichester’s 4.48 pounder worth $316 and James Butts’ 4.4 pounder worth $210.

The top three in the money for salmon were Brenda Stark (4.35 pounds, $658), Jon Olson (4.33 pounds, $395) and Kristy Whitney (4 pounds, $263).

Koocanusa’s Randy Burch said 120 boats and 329 anglers were registered for this year’s tournament.