New "State Record"

[PropsterII]

Shoot2Kill, you make some valid points, but most of it I think is wishful thinking, or just playing devils advocate. Glad to see you give him the benefit of the doubt. I wish I could but I don't. Interested to hear what BrianLucky has to say, sounds like we don't know all the facts yet. We do all know the 6 hr thing is bunk.

[eyeguy 54]

I landed a 53 incher on 6lb test in under 5 minutes.

That fish must have been out drinkin the night before. LOL

[Shoot2Kill]

Shoot2Kill, you make some valid points, but most of it I think is wishful thinking, or just playing devils advocate. Glad to see you give him the benefit of the doubt. I wish I could but I don't. Interested to hear what BrianLucky has to say, sounds like we don't know all the facts yet. We do all know the 6 hr thing is bunk.

Very well could be just playing devils advocate. I get tired of seeing this type of online bashing over fish, big bucks, etc.....what good does it do online to bash someone when you don't have a clue what happened. Dtro put it pretty well.

Maybe both stories in the paper are way off base and got it totally wrong, maybe he drug the fish to the bank to get it weighed, maybe he's got 4 skin mounts on the wall, maybe the MN muskie fishery is no big secret now just because of him (haha)....maybe he totally sucks at fighting fish and releasing them and could learn some tips from the pros on this forum who are QB'ing from their keyboard, who knows. Two things we all do know for sure...he caught a giant fish and it's dead now. Life goes on and so does musky fishing all across the state.

BrianLucky....care to share or just stirring the pot?

[fish_time]

Good for the kid that caught that BIG musky! I am jealous just like everyone else that it wasn't me that caught that fish. Yes, It sucks that the fish died. all fish die, and so will you. Im with shoot2kill on this one. by the way, I have a musky on the wall, do you want to bash me now. be positive and go catch your owen fish. (by the way, my fish is a replica)

[broodwich]

54 pounds? I don't think so. If that fish is 54 pounds then I broke the record several times. Nice fish but not even close to a record. If I had to guess it's probably 38 to 43 pounds and I'm being generous because of the length.

[john skarie]

I disagree that when hearing news of fish being mounted we "should just move on".

Maybe this fish was kept on purpose, maybe not. At any rate in my neck of the woods a local taxidermist if mounting 30-40 muskies a year.

That's just one guy.

C&R as a "tool" for muskie anglers to preserve the fishery for futrure generations is going backwards IMO.

More and more attitudes of "it's just a fish" are surfacing. The new breed of muskie fishermen has no idea what it was like 20 years ago. They think all these fish are just going to be there forever, and the actions they take while fishing don't really matter. Catch 'em, play 'em, measure 'em, girth 'em and then a 10 picture session.

It's no wonder more and more fish "don't make it". Or why there are more and more floating on lakes every year.

Anyway, strong C&R ethics and good fish handling skills are needed more now than ever, in spite of all the success that people can have fishing these days.

That can change a lot faster than it will take to build it up again.

JS

[MUSKY18]

I couldn't agree with JS more on this one. I too, believe that young anglers haven't a clue what it was like fishing for musky 20 years ago. Seeing 5 fish in a day was a great day, let alone being able to boat one. How many lakes in Minnesota now have musky's in them that didn't 20 years ago? The opportunities are much greater to catch a big fish, however, if these big fish keep getting taken out of the systems, how long will it take to grow another one to that size? And for the none musky guys, just take a look at the stocking data. While a stocked musky lake might get a few hundred fingerlings every other year, the same lake is probably getting thousands and thousands of walleye yearly. Odds are you are always going to catch walleye, but no so much with musky.

Congrats to the kid for landing a monster fish, no doubt about that. But as the old saying goes, you can't [PoorWordUsage] a BSer. 6 hours to try and revive? Don't buy it at all. I am willing to bet that if he already has 4 other fish on the wall, the minute he saw this monster, he was already planning where to hang it in the house.

Just my .02

[CaptainMusky]

JS, you nailed it! People lose site of what it means to catch a musky. It isnt about hanging the fish on the wall or plastering pictures all over facebook or the net to rub in other people's faces.

Heck, I dont take many photos of the fish I catch anymore. I have caught plenty and it really doesnt mean anything to take a photo of "another 45 incher".

So many people use this as chest thumping and in all honesty some of the musky organizations help promote this it seems. I just go out for pure enjoyment and the challenge, I really dont care what other people think of me as an angler so no reason to brag about what I catch.

[Shoot2Kill]

I guess I’m just saying that to me, there are more important things in life than to worry about a fish that died from eating a bait that I would assume most anglers on this forum have thrown at least once. The same exact thing could happen to you, if any of us knew the real details about how it “actually” died then maybe we wouldn’t even be having this debate (referring to my first post about the guide last fall who had a giant die on him after it ate the same bait and getting nothing but support over it – it can happen to ANYONE). Lots of assumptions have been made here yet nobody seems to have one ounce of fact yet are quick to crucify this guy based on what the “news” said – yes the links to the story say one thing, but I rarely believe a dang thing I read or see on TV now days. Could some of it been true or some of it embellished or could he use some education? Sure, shame on him, but we don’t really know do we. I’ve still not seen anyone prove that the other 3 fish he has on the wall are skin mounts. Can anyone? I’m still waiting to see what BrianLucky13 has to say. Maybe if he knows him personally and this guy is a total tool then he deserves to be ragged on but at this point, we don’t know that.

I’m not celebrating the fact that people are whacking them and taking them to the taxidermist – petition the DNR to make it catch and release only then if you really believe new anglers to the sport are the cause of recent influx of “floaters”. Whether you old dogs want to admit or not, this same internet forum that you are posting on and others just like it is what fuels the sport and all the “newbies” that are coming in and “taking pictures of their fish and posting them online”….how dare they! Same is true for every aspect of the outdoors now, it’s not just muskies. For many, forums take the research away from what used to be earned through hard work and trial and error, if you don’t like that, then why be a member here and share info?

To each their own if you want to take pictures or not of what you catch. If you’ve caught hundreds, then fine, but getting a picture of a fish is no crime. It’s nice to get a nice picture of a beautiful fish to have to remember the moment forever, just as people have been doing for decades. A 10 picture photo session can take 10 seconds with any of the new digital cameras out there if you want or need 10 pics..…I’ve seen it debated on here time and time again about how long a fish should be out of the water and you can easily get a few nice pictures in under 20 seconds (pulling the fish out, taking pics, and putting her back). Isn’t this forum promoting people taking pictures since there is a photo thread as a sticky at the top of this forum? If people start getting ragged on for taking pictures of a fish they worked their butt off for, then that’s going to be a sad day for this sport.

I got severely infected with the musky virus 2 years ago so I guess I’m one of the newbies and immediately I was an advocate for catch and release. It puts a huge smile on my face to watch them swim away but I understand that chit happens and there is a chance that a fish I catch will die no matter what I do, the best thing you can do is to learn from it, and maybe share the experience to other anglers to help them avoid it happening to them. Whether you like it or not, new people are going to continue to get into the sport, nothing you can do about that but be a mentor and educate them on preserving the resource. I had the great fortune of meeting a forum member here a couple weeks ago and taking him musky fishing for basically his first time – and I will tell you that the feeling I’ve had since that night after watching him hoist that hog out of the net and pose with his first fish gave me more pleasure than anything I’ve done in a long time. I still smile when I think about it. Do what you can to pass along the virus and be an advocate for the sport; it’s so much more fun than being a grumpy old fart trying to keep everything under wraps. I know of two newbies that I can’t wait to take out in my boat in the future – my two sons. You can darn well bet I want them to get hooked on it at some point in their life so we can share the boat together and I will do all I can to teach them to respect the resource so they are engrained with it and continue the trend for not only my grandkids but any of yours.

Now if mother nature would stop being such a bizzo and heating up the lakes, maybe more people would be out catching their own giant and sharing the experience for those of us stuck behind a desk for waaay too many hours a week.

[certified jumbo]

Congrats to the young man. Some musky anglers need to relax on there posts everytime a big musky is put online. You are doing more harm then you are doing good by this. Helps remind me why I haven't gone back to musky fishing. Don't hurt your sport by writing negative slams everytime something like this comes up.........its not helping.

[OnAFly]

+1 Skarie

No one thinks they can deplete a resource until they do. Then they say, "how was I supposed to know my actions would have an effect on the world around me?"

[thatoneguy]

Congrats to the young man. Some musky anglers need to relax on there posts everytime a big musky is put online. You are doing more harm then you are doing good by this. Helps remind me why I haven't gone back to musky fishing. Don't hurt your sport by writing negative slams everytime something like this comes up.........its not helping.

+1

The biggest thing keeping me from getting into musky fishing is the attitude of what seems, unfortunately, like the majority of musky chasers.

[jwmiller33]

I always have a hard time seeing people harp on a guy for keeping a fish, when it is 100% legal to do so. I do not encourage people to keep trophies, as I am a 99% catch and release fisherman, and that is my choice. We all have a choice, and we should not burn others at the stake for the choice they made. As long as a person is following the rules, has a license, is following slot length limits, is using the legal number of lines, etc, I do not care if they keep or release a fish. It is a personal decision and people should not burn one another at the stakes for their personal decisions. This guy has 4 other muskies on the wall... so what??? As long as all of the fish were caught legally, I don't really care. Most muskie fishermen have caught 100s of fish throughout their lifetime, and if they decide to put one or two on the wall while releasing the other 99% fish they catch, well, I think those are good percentages.

You see the same thing with sturgeon fishing, although you see a lot more fish harvested up on LOTW/Rainy River during the harvest season than you see muskies getting harvested. I would never harvest a sturgeon unless it was a MONSTER and would drop jaws everytime someone saw it when walking into my living room, and even then, I don't know if I would dish out that kind of cash to put a fish on my wall that wasn't a walleye. However, I don't look down on someone for deciding to keep one of those prehistoric, at one time nearly extinct fish. I DO have a problem with guys targeting sturgies out of season on the Croix, like the guy who was in the news this last winter on the St Croix who caught a monster while "walleye fishing"

What it comes down to is a personal decision. I am not a muskie fisherman but I will always read these types of threads just so I can get a good laugh at how bent out of shape some muskie guys get for reading a "internet story" of a guy keeping a fish. Life is short, and there are a lot more important things that are worth my time than to get bent out of shape over someone legally harvesting a fish.

[CaptainMusky]

taking pictures of their fish and posting them online”….how dare they! Same is true for every aspect of the outdoors now, it’s not just muskies. For many, forums take the research away from what used to be earned through hard work and trial and error, if you don’t like that, then why be a member here and share info?

To each their own if you want to take pictures or not of what you catch. If you’ve caught hundreds, then fine, but getting a picture of a fish is no crime.

If you are implying that I said taking pictures was a crime you completely misunderstood my post. Too many people these days think they are entitled to things. If a person wants to keep a fish, its their right and they can do it. If someone wants to take pictures of fish, they certainly can. What I challenge is that some of these folks just do it for chest thumping and not for "taking a picture of a beautiful fish".

Musky fishermen are their own worst enemies at times. We preach C&R ethics, but at the same time that comes across as elitist mentality.

Fish die. No one can dispute that, but I think the whole intent of this entire topic was to talk about the steps people are taking to harvest a "state record fish" when they dont even fully understand what the criteria are. Again, there is no mention that this guy's intent WAS to keep the fish, it sounds by the story, he intended on releasing it. At any rate this fish is not and will not be a record by any stretch. Had it been caught in October MAYBE, but doubtful.

I dont think anyone should do any petitioning of lawmakers for anything. They cant get their jobs done as it is, we certainly dont want to give them more to do.

[RiverFish]

I'm sure all of you that are [PoorWordUsage]-poing this kid are using single barbless hooks, right?

I would be interested in the answer from this question, from those posting about fish mortality and how long it takes for these big fish to get replaced.

If this is the case why are we not promoting barbless hooks and circle hooks?

[a47mlb]

All i've got to say is that at age 22, he must be from a wealthy family...4 fish mounted, and musky fishing for "all his life". Them some big $$$ flying out the door for a 22yr old...Since he's got 4 on the wall, obviously not well educated either, especially for someone who claims to have fished these monsters "all his life".

B.S.

A quick google search of the young lads name in Phoenix comes up with this: Gergens Orthodontic Lab

[Shoot2Kill]

If you are implying that I said taking pictures was a crime you completely misunderstood my post. Too many people these days think they are entitled to things. If a person wants to keep a fish, its their right and they can do it. If someone wants to take pictures of fish, they certainly can. What I challenge is that some of these folks just do it for chest thumping and not for "taking a picture of a beautiful fish".

Musky fishermen are their own worst enemies at times. We preach C&R ethics, but at the same time that comes across as elitist mentality.

Fish die. No one can dispute that, but I think the whole intent of this entire topic was to talk about the steps people are taking to harvest a "state record fish" when they dont even fully understand what the criteria are. Again, there is no mention that this guy's intent WAS to keep the fish, it sounds by the story, he intended on releasing it. At any rate this fish is not and will not be a record by any stretch. Had it been caught in October MAYBE, but doubtful.

I dont think anyone should do any petitioning of lawmakers for anything. They cant get their jobs done as it is, we certainly dont want to give them more to do.

Not implying that, I understand what you’re saying.

Nice reply, a good civil debate is nice.

Let me ask a general question to all – kind of switching topics but not really. A new state record is out there somewhere, isn’t a small part of you interested in seeing what it really takes to be the state new record and seeing the fish of our lifetimes and rewriting the record books? How will it ever be discovered if you’re not allowed to keep it by the standards of the elitist muskie fisherman? Is it wrong for an angler to want to have a record fish? Just asking. Even if you had the fish in your boat and wanted to have it checked but yet wanted to release it, if it doesn’t die on the way to the dock, it is going to die if it has to be weighed on a “certified scale” is it not? So you really can’t win. I would hate to see the pummeling that guy would take if he did actually kill the new state record instead of letting it go regardless of his intentions.

Oh….and I totally agree with you about not giving the state more work, good point, maybe hold off on that for a while.

[Shoot2Kill]

A quick google search of the young lads name in Phoenix comes up with this: Gergens Orthodontic Lab

And your point? You guys are nuts.

[john skarie]

Very few posts on here are "buring anyone on the stake". I find it very amusing when people start coming out scolding those that bring up the topic of C&R and fish handling, when people start talking about either fish that they want to kill or that "don't make it".

So I guess some of you should tell us when the right time and place is to talk about C&R and handling?? Apparently it isn't on the internet, in magazines or on TV shows as the peanut gallery starts to cry foul when talk about the importance of C&R comes up on any of those mediums.

The "elitist" muskie fishermen, that's a good one.

Is there a certain action that makes you an elitist? Do you have to be someone that belongs to MI, or that uses barbless hooks, or that works to raise size limits and creates new fishing opportunities??

Is it just uttering the phrase C&R that makes you an elitist??

If you aren't elitist, what does that make you?

Just wondering.

JS

[RiverFish]

John,

If your only true interest is C&R and protecting the fishery, doesn't barbless hooks and circle hooks make sense?

What I am saying is that I don't here barbless or circle hooks mentioned.

[dakor]

I do not think it should be C & R across the state I also think the 48 inch Min should be dropped also. I have been Muskie fishing for about 12 years now and have let every fish we have every caught go back healthy into the water until 3 years ago. I am fishing on a 48inch min lake trolling and my dad has a 36 inch fish slam a believer. My dad started reeling in the fish and I could see when it got to the boat it was not a good sign a lot of blood in the water and the fish in hailed the bait down in the gill plate and was pumping out blood like crazy. I got the fish in the net and left it in the water and cut the hooks right away. I would say the total time passed was about 4 to 5 minutes between fighting, netting it and cutting the hooks. This was in the fall water temp was in the low 50's. The fish died in my hands I tried for ever but there was just too much blood loss and the gill plate was damaged from when it smashed the bait. How do you avoid that? Any time you fish you run the risk of killing one and if you fish long enough it will probably happen to you and I hope it never does cause it still makes me sick. So now I am sitting on a lake that I can’t keep this fish so in the water it goes to drift into the shore which just about made me puke watching that. If we had the option to keep it at least it would not have gone to waste. Now getting to this fish it is a big fish but I do not think it is nearly as big as some of the fish posted here on the board and I would say the weight is in the 40lbs range but that is my guess from the picture. I think they looked at the length of it being longer instead of girth which is where the weight comes from not length.

[Nick Kuhn]

John,

If your only true interest is C&R and protecting the fishery, doesn't barbless hooks and circle hooks make sense?

What I am saying is that I don't here barbless or circle hooks mentioned.

I've never had a fish die on me using trebles. Why should I bother changing if I know I've been successful doing what I already do?

[BrianLucky13]

Yeah I know the kid from seeing him on the lake and so on. My buddys gf's develops all of his pics and many of the pics are of dead fish!!! He comes to MN a few times a year and kills most fish. Hesgonna have some words with me next time I see him and I hope its on da water, not at da bar!!!

[HooknHorns]

Wow some of you guys treat him like he's standing next to the infamous '55 Leech Lake stringer in present time. Seems like back then they were jumping in the boat. If everyone cared so much for the fish, theyd quit fishing. There is always a chance of accidental death.

This is about the same arguement as antler restrictions for trophy deer.

I dont care how long you've been fishing muskies. Its legal to keep that fish if he had a licsense. It was his decision to make and maybe he regrets having kept it. He might not care what anyone thinks of him as an angler or a person. If you have caught so many that you don't need to take pictures anymore, your still bragging by making that statement. I take pictures so I can get my son excited to tag along and to proove to my wife I'm not crazy. My trophies are for myself to stare at when id rather be somewhere else.

The story seemed more like it shared how the outdoors have been affected by the shutdown. The paper was looking for a story and found it. If the fish would have been barely legal it would not have made the paper. Then it wouldnt have had anything to do with the state. He knew it wasnt a state record and thats why it doesnt bother him about the shutdown. Any title with "Record" in it will sell more papers. Don't beleive what you read the reporter could have reworded a few of his statements.

Nice fish, congrats.

[RiverFish]

Nick Kuhn,

You've never had a fish die that you know of. Just like all the tournament fish that get released and swim off after weight in, then wash up on shore a couple of days later.

Why change? Because we know it harms the fish less. I would think true C&R guys would embrace this.