The Lake Champlain International Father’s Day Derby may be far from Big Sky Country, but the thrill of the catch — and the fact that you just never know when you’ll win — unites it with fishing derbies across places like Montana. In Vermont, according to a recent article from Outdoor Life, 10-year-old Grayson Carey hauled in a 28.5-pound freshwater drum during the June 2025 tournament on Lake Champlain. After a stubborn, drag-peeling fight in the middle of the night, Grayson’s dad, Jason, slipped the net under the massive fish — a moment they quickly realized could be historic. Although the catch happened during Father’s Day weekend, Vermont officials didn’t officially certify the new state record until February, months later. The fish not only bested a decades-old record, it helped the Carey team walk away with about $26,000 in prize money — all for targeting a species many anglers overlook.
That same sense of unpredictability and excitement fuels fishing contests in Montana, where community and seasonal derbies — from family ice fishing events on reservoirs to the annual Koocanusa Resort fishing derby — draw anglers chasing everything from perch to rainbow trout with cash and bragging rights on the line. A perfect example is the 2026 Spring Mack Days on Flathead Lake coming up soon, where competitors will once again test their luck and skill against lake trout. Across the state and the country, whether it’s an ice derby on Canyon Ferry or a spring showdown at Fort Peck with hundreds of boats in the mix, the story is always the same: sometimes the fish cooperate, and sometimes one unexpected bite changes everything. That unpredictability keeps anglers coming back year after year — because you just never know when you’ll boat the big one and walk away a winner. And as Grayson proved, age is not a factor.
