Bass estimated at 19 years old caught in Montana

KALISPELL — A 10-year-old Kalispell boy using a rubber worm caught a largemouth bass in western Montana that wildlife officials say is nearly twice as old as he is.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Mark Deleray said the bass caught and released by Garrett Frost in Rose Creek Slough on July 16 could be as much as 19 years old, which may be the oldest on record for Montana.

The fish was 20 to 22 inches long and weighed about 3.5 pounds.

Garrett removed a tag that had been placed on the fish in 1997 in another Flathead River backwater area about 5 miles away. Biologists estimate the fish was 5 years old when it was tagged, based on the fact that it was just over 14 inches long and weighed 1.5 pounds at the time.

"We can be pretty confident about that age," FWP spokesman Mark Fraley said Wednesday, adding that a bass can't grow as big as 14 inches long in less than five years in Montana.

Tyler Frost told FWP officials his son hooked the fish on a rubber worm and landed it himself.

Most literature says largemouth bass can live to be 15 or 16 in the northern United States, Fraley said. Fish tend to grow slower and live longer in colder waters