What is a chiselmouth, you may ask? And better yet, what does it take to get one in the record books?
Before our Sportfishing Program Coordinator could close Idaho’s record books during what’s turned into a wallop of a record fish season, Carmen, Idaho angler Akeley Fahnholz tossed her hat into the ring.
While fishing on June 8 along the Salmon River up near the town that shares the same name, Akeley hooked a fish that might’ve been considered small by even stocked rainbow trout standards. But the fish on the end of her line was no trout — in fact, this fish was a native Idaho species, the chiselmouth.
Chiselmouth come from the minnow family and are the only species in their taxonomic order in Idaho. Akeley’s chiselmouth stretched the tape at a whopping 11.25 inches, which is a trophy size for this species which rarely exceed 12 inches.
Sure, that might get a few chuckles from the record lake and brown trouts we’ve seen so far this year, but remember this: Chiselmouths, as their name implies, literally chisel their dinner off river rocks. Focusing primarily on algae and small insects, it’s no wonder the term minnow garners such a diminutive reputation when held up next to their cousins in the char, trout, and catfish families.
So, imagine how much chiseling it might take a chiselmouth to reach 11 inches and change. Akeley’s new state record species isn’t one that dogears the state record book’s pages all that often. But, native non-game fish like the chiselmouth are pretty fun to add to your day’s catch, and this fish will surely get talked about for the rest of her life.
Congratulations, Akeley, on your new Idaho state catch-and-release record chiselmouth!
