Montana Kid Lands a Lunker From a Dock With a Prize Inside

Harken back to those treasured childhood days when you had a box of Cracker Jack in hand.

Sure you loved the tasty molasses-flavored caramel-coated popcorn balls and peanuts, but you couldn't wait to grab that cheap little prize inside the box. It was a trophy guaranteed to provide you with a solid 3 seconds of excitement before you got bored with it or it broke.

But that was not what mattered. It was the thrill of the catch!

THE FISH WITHIN

Maybe not the best comparison to use in the case of 12-year-old Josiah Hernandez of Glasgow, Montana, since he was certainly not expecting to find a prize inside his prize fish. But the find will no doubt will be included every time he tells the story of his thrilling catch.

The Montana Outdoor Radio Show tells us that Josiah reeled in an impressive catch this past Saturday while fishing from a dock in the Fort Peck Dredge Cuts. Josiah cast out with a classic Five of Diamonds lure, and managed to hook a whopper of a northern pike.

Now, everyone knows northern pike are voracious predators, and grow large enough to swallow good-sized prey whole. But when you're 12 years old, your eyes are going to get as big as saucers when you discover a 14-inch carp, mostly still intact, inside the larger fish’s stomach.

It was an unforgettable day on the water and a truly remarkable catch.

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SHIFTING GEARS, HEADED FOR THE HELENA AREA

The weather is warming up, and so is the bite across most of the Helena area's most popular fisheries. If Canyon Ferry, Hauser, and Holter reservoirs are calling your name, get a brand new, thorough update on lots of positive reports here.