BIG Muskie Lake Vermilion!!!!!!!!

[harley2011]

[scsavre]

wow, that a tank

[Jmeyers]

Nice fish! Can't wait to get up there!

[PurpleFloyd]

Wow. I didn't even know the season was open yet.

[mn_bowhunter]

Based on the light spinning rod, lightweight mono line, and small net I'd say it was an incidental catch. Heck of a catch for those using musky equipment, let alone light tackle. Congrats

[simple1]

Yea, I wouldn't call that a muskie combo next to him.

[Jmeyers]

It's nice to know they are hungry

[Shoot2Kill]

That's a beautiful fish....love that water shot with her coming in. Nicely done with the light tackle!

[PropsterII]

Hope she's still swimming

[TravP]

Hope she's still swimming

What makes you say that?

[simple1]

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[PropsterII]

Just want somebody to be able to catch her again, that's all

[mrklean]

did you measure it?

[harley2011]

It went the width of our boat, which is 50 inches. I wish i had a tape so i could have measured the girth..i know it was over 30 lbs. What do u guys think it weighed??

[cbrooks]

I'll say 35 maybe pushing 40 lbs range. Its a monster, congrats.

[mrklean]

what did you catch it on?

[401TE]

That's a nice fish but it's not a 35-40 pounder. Try 25-30...probably closer to 25 without it's last meal that's still in it's stomach! Hell of a nice fish, though!

[10,000 Casts]

it's tough to say. I don't know how tall you are but that looks longer than 50". Girth, if I had guess. 23"-24" - if it was 50" then 33-35lbs maaaybe more.

did she swim off ok? That Rapala looks tiny in her mouth. Thanks for the pics, I'm surprised she let you get her to the boat with that walleye gear, did she know she was hooked?

[harley2011]

Caught her on 10lb. line with a #9 gold RAPALA!!! It really didnt fight that hard though...but i was following it with the boat!!! We released it and she went down eventually...

[401TE]

23-24" is a FAT muskie, FYI. I've caught a few muskies with that kind of girth and they look obese. This is normal, healthy 50, with a meal in it's stomach. An average 50" has a girth between 20" and 21", putting it between 25 and 30 pounds.

[10,000 Casts]

Quote:

23-24" is a FAT muskie, FYI. I've caught a few muskies with that kind of girth and they look obese. This is normal, healthy 50, with a meal in it's stomach. An average 50" has a girth between 20" and 21", putting it between 25 and 30 pounds.

lol congrats on all your monsters.. A 50x23 is very common..

with that vertical hold, I think he made it look skinnier than it is but I see what your saying about the meal. With just a pic, it's tough to tell.

[john skarie]

50"x23" is common?

Guess I need better measuring tools.

It's a beautiful fish period. I was always very happy with my 50"x20-21".

JS

[Scoot]

I think it's very common for 23" girth to be reported. However, legit and honest 23" girths aren't nearly as common as a lot of people think. I'm totally confident that a lot of 20", even upper teens in inches, fish fish get called 22", 23", or 25" in girth very, very often. People see a fat fish and simply call it 23". Or... people put the tape to it, refuse to believe a 19.5" fish is that fat looking, and call it 23" anyway.

All that being said, I'd love to catch the fish in the pic and I really don't care what it's girth is!

[10,000 Casts]

401, the more I think about what you said, the more I agree, 50x21 or 22 and it just ate a meal. The way the guy is holding it threw me off. I still want to give that fish a couple extra inches in length..

John, I may be skewed after spending most of last fall on Mille Lacs.. Every 48+ fish we saw was 23-28 girth. And I know Hammernick put (can't remember exactly) but like 20-30 fish over 40lbs in the boat. Opener and this summer should put me back in check.

That being said, I would say it is more common than ever in MN to catch 50+x23+

[Scoot]

"That being said, I would say it is more common than ever in MN to catch 50+x23+"

Now that, I totally agree with! It's still not nearly as common as stumbling around the internet would lead a guy to believe though. Wouldn't you agree?