Big fish meets special needs

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.