Saw a HUGE metro Muskie! But it was "bent"... Take a look!

[Moose-Hunter]

Howdy All...

My buddy and I went out for a few panfish yesterday and found this ol' girl just finning just under the surface over deep water.

Sorry for the bad photo, all we had was a cell phone cam... I wish we could have put something in the shot to give her some scale. She was a BIG fish. Easily in the upper 40's...

From what we could see, this fish had not sustained any damage like a prop strike, as in there was no damge to her skin at all. We were able to get very good looks at both sides of her. What was odd is that she had a very pronounced bend as if she had been hit by a boat. She was able to swim out of sight, but then returned to near the surface a few minutes later. not really floundering, but not in a big hurry either. We stayed in the area for 20-30 minutes and she eventually swam out of sight.

And the plot thickens... Later in the day, we heard that someone had caught a "big muskie" in one of the local crappie holes. From the reports, the anglers kept the 'ski out of the water "way too long" for a photo shoot and had a tough time resusitating the fish when it was finally released.

Could this be the result of bad fish handling? A boat hit? A genetic defect? Other than the "bend", she appeared lazy but heathy... We called the DNR when we were with her but got no response. What do you think happened?

[DOHKAY]

Just a genetic defect in my opinion. I've seen muskies with similar defects with a bend in the back that points their tails downward. There's also the more common snub-nose defect where the top of the jaw is shortened. Funny how she's grown that big and seems healthy from the picture. I guess those defects often don't effect eating.

[HugoBox]

No need to appologize for that photo. Very cool for sure. So if a guy hooked that fish I wonder if the fight would be any different??

[WallyGator12000]

I've caught some walleyes that look exactly like that, each one came from a different lake (one metro, one north-central MN, and one BWCA), and over the course of quite a few years. I always assumed it was a birth defect, like a fused back or something. I can tell you they all fought just the same, I didn't know they were any different until they were up to the boat. Tasted just fine too.

Never seen a musky with it before though...cool!

[Scoot]

This one isn't nearly as kitty-whompus as the one you got the pic of, but here's one my nephew caught that had a crooked tail. It was actually more crooked than the pic shows it though...

No way to know what happened, but I figured it was dropped on the bottom of a boat. Again, no way to confirm that, just what popped in my head when I saw it.

[BrianLucky13]

I've seen a lot of weird and goofy things but that might take the cake!! Thanks for sharing that.

[frogtosser]

we caught a pike on Mille Lacs that looked like the first one, it was very healthy just bent.

[brad coin]

wrong sleepnumber???

[perchking]

That is one cool photo, thanks for sharing.

PK

[brmuskie]

I have seen 2 muskies like that before. The first one was in the net before we realized anything was odd. The second one I caught on a figure 8 - after I realized that it could only go in a circle one direction. It couldn't turn the other way but really wanted to eat.

[goldie11]

AWESOME fish wouldnt mind catching it!

[troutned]

I did fisheries work for about 10 years, mostly out west. What you're seeing could be the result of electro-fishing. Although not common, if a fish gets zapped "too hard" by electrofishing equipment, the electricity running through their muscle tissue will cause the muscles to contract so violently that the fish's spine will fracture, or occasionally basically rupture an entire vertebrae. This generally results from one of two things. One possibility is that the personnel were unfamiliar with the equipment or water conductivity and therefore using too much power. This can happen even with fairly experienced operators because conductivity varies from water-body to water-body, as well as throughout the season on the same water-body. It is usually noticed very quickly, but a few fish might get shocked too hard in the first few minutes of sampling. Another possibility is that the crew got into a dense pod of fish and were netting like crazy and due to the large number of thrashing fish, didn't see one of the fish that got shocked early and hard. Although electro-fishing is generally a good, safe sampling technique, occassionally these things will happen. My understanding is that it is rarely fatal. You will generally see these deformities in larger fish, as their greater surface-area "collects" more energy.

[jim carpenter]

could be from handling. Could be genetics. Could be from a near death experience from another fish when it was a fry.

[Sackett]

I caught one in Cass that was a carbon-copy of that. It was an old fish on the decline by its looks but maybe it was of normal age and just had a really tough time catching food. Had it been able to straighten out it would have been in the 50s. No noticeable scarring either, really believe it was just something from birth or sometime in its first years that caused it, but who really knows.

[troutned]

These fish have been shocked. I'd about guarantee it.

[catfreak]

Very cool pic. The electro-shock idea makes sense. I know that can even happen to humans when they get hit with a large electrical current. A body will seize so violently it can break the back. So I'm sure if it happens to people it can happen to fish.

[WyoChris]

I caught a smallmouth that had a stunted back like that before. No noticable damage.... must have been a growth defect or something

[HorseshoeChain]

I've caught a couple with bent backs, they haven't seemed to be suffering, although they tend to be a little skinny.

I took a friend to Mille Lacs one day. He caught his first muskie... 53 inches!! It had a very crooked back... mostly bent downward instead of sideways like the one in the picture.

This fish seemed healthy, but lean. It also did not fight very hard, just wallowed a lot. It was also maybe the most docile fish I've ever handled, both in the net and in the boat.

Very interesting about the shocking theory... sounds sensible.

I kind of assumed it was caused possibly by some sort of damage at a young age.