Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Outdoors blog

Big fish meets special needs

Nolan Stewart won the Junior  Division of the 2016 Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Fall Fishing Derby with a rainbow trout that weighed 14.72 pounds and measured 31.75 inches long. (Courtesy)
Nolan Stewart won the Junior Division of the 2016 Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Fall Fishing Derby with a rainbow trout that weighed 14.72 pounds and measured 31.75 inches long. (Courtesy)

FISHING -- The list of winners published last week after the 2016 Lake Pend Oreille Fall Fishing Derby has a lot of untold stories to go along with them.

One worth noting is Nolan Stewart, 12, who won the Junior Division with a rainbow trout that weighed 14.72 pounds and measured 31.75 inches long.

"He's pretty excited," said his mother, Nicole, noting that it was his first time participating in the derby.

He's a seventh grader at Sacajawea Middle School in Spokane. S-R columnist Cindy Hval recently did a story on Nolan who is battling with Crohn's disease.

"This fish and winning his division is a testament that you can live your life with an autoimmune disease," she said.



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

Follow Rich online:




Go to the full Outdoors page