Reader photo: Leading lunker
Angler holds his own: A 23-pound mackinaw and a 16-pound rainbow continue to be the top fish caught so far in the 70th annual Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club’s K&K Spring Fishing Derby, which started Saturday and runs through May 7 with more than $18,000 in cash and prizes in several divisions for rainbow and mackinaw. Kalispell angler Derek Blanchard’s 22.90-pound lake trout, above, was caught the first day and continued to be the largest fish reported as of Wednesday. Mackinaw numbers have been dramatically curtailed in the lake in recent years to reduce their impact on kokanee, but the gillnets deployed by Idaho Fish and Game have missed a few. The top adult division rainbow so far is a 15.90-pounder caught by Rodney Vandever of Post Falls.