MN Record Broken

[CaptainMusky]

Quote:

---

To make matters worse, I fished Alex this AM and got there just after someone had come into the little store/bait shop there with a 46" one (photo was going on the board when I arrived). He had apparently snagged it close to the surface and couldn't revive it. Why anyone would advertise/admit that they intentionally snagged a fish is beyond me. It's one thing to be dishonorable, but to be proud enough of it to tell people? Geez.

---

Not to mention illegal.

From the regulations..."It is unlawful to take a fish by snagging."

[nofishfisherman]

Did he literally snag it as in "Foul hook" the fish. Or did he catch it normally but just used the slang term as in "yeah I snagged this one"

I have said "i snagged a fish" but what i was meaning I caught the fish, I just used a slang term.

Its like saying I really hammered them tonight. I didn't literally hammer the fish with a claw hammer but I caught alot of them.

What if you did accidentally foul hook or snag a fish and despite your best efforts you could not revive it? What do you do with it? By the law its illegal to keep it so should you just let it float?

[PDXFisher]

I wondered that myself, but you'd have to ask the shop owner, as I didn't actually hear the original conversation (so hearsay at this point). It may well have been the shop owner that introduced the term "snag". However, from what I took it to mean, the fish wasn't doing well already, so the likelihood a struggling fish that couldn't subsequently be revived willingly took a lure, coupled with the use of the term "snag" was enough circumstancial evidence for me to judge foul hook. I could be completely wrong, of course. If I did snag a fish, and admitted to it, I wouldn't want the evidence on a shop owner's wall, after all.

[CaptainMusky]

If I were to guess, this fish was stressed already. Either by being caught prior and released or by the heat and high water temps or who knows what. This guy saw this fish sitting there close or on the surface and snagged it. I wasn't there, didn't talk to him, but you just don't cast to muskies sitting on the surface and intentially snag these things if they are well.

Could he have used a slang term? Certainly.

[BrianLucky13]

I talked to that store owner this morning and the guy didnt snag the fish, he caught it. The water temps were over 80 degrees when he caught it so Im sure that was the case. The fish cant be out of the water at all with temps like that. Whats really kills me is most of the locals keep all the muskies they keep in those 2 lakes. Maybe thats why there isnt very many fish over 50 inches?????

[CaptainMusky]

I think there are plenty of fish over 50 inches in these two lakes, especially considering they have only been stocked there since 1989. Muskies live for approximately 20 years or so, so these fish are reaching their prime. The average size is high on these lakes compared to other lakes I have fished. I have been having more trouble catching fish out of them too the last couple years. Could be a combination of things, but I think they are getting bigger/wiser.

There have been quite a few 50 plus inchers caught out there. The DNR estimated the first 50 inch fish to be in either of those lakes only 5 years ago.

They will only get better for quality fish, but there are sure a lot of rednecks around there. Far too many uneducated fisherman around there.