Girl catches monster pike on Swan Lake

Alona Johnson, a 6-year-old from Columbia Falls, had the catch of her life at Swan Lake last weekend when she reeled in a 45-inch pike weighing 27.5 pounds.

Her mother, Nichole Johnson, said that despite the monster fish’s size, it only took her daughter about five minutes to reel in the pike after hooking it on a smelt-baited hook about 15 feet from the family’s boat Saturday morning.

“She reeled it in all by herself,” Nichole said. “I held her pole up a little bit, but she did all the work and my dad netted it for her ... We were just so excited. I was yelling for the net.”

Nichole said that despite her age, Alona is fast becoming a formidable angler, having already notched a first-place finish at the Smith Lake ice fishing derby in 2014.

“She’s been fishing her whole life,” her mother said, adding, “I even fished when she was in the womb.”

The photo was provided courtesy of Alona’s mother, Nichole Johnson.