Would you keep a 52-inch muskie?

[HugoBox]

I will not keep a muskie unless I somehow kill it by accident. There is something really cool about watching a biggie take off after being released.

I wouldn't judge someone who keeps a fish that is legally taken during the legal season.

And for me, its your job to know the laws, regardless of whether you're fishing or hunting. I don't fish for panfish that much but spent the last weekend catching crappies through the hard water - I picked up some regs on the way to make sure I knew the limits as we decided to keep enough for a couple meals.

[PierBridge]

I would release it.....but I would have no problem if you or anyone kept it!

[LEECH21]

I would definitely let it go. Repos are better than the real thing these days. They last forever and are about equal in price as a real mount.

Plus you get to watch a magnificent animal (that maybe older than you) swim away.

CPR all the way!

[Muskiefool]

Boy I wish their was still a Muskie or two as old as Me

[ESOX Slayer]

I think the release is a part of the catch when it comes to musky fishing.

[Bassman55]

I's like leech21 I love to see big fish swim away, unless it is right before I lip them or get them in the net.

[Nick Kuhn]

 Originally Posted By: Bassman55

I's like leech21 I love to see big fish swim away, unless it is right before I lip them or get them in the net.

Also when they turn away before hitting your lure.

[BezD40]

First muskie i ever got was 51" and it was the best feeling i the world. 2nd best feeling was letting her go and hoping someone else will get to have the same feeling i did.

[Hammer Handle]

For me, it depends. I may or may not keep a big fish that I caught. If I am legal either way, what I decide to do is up to me.

[TiNK3R]

I'd let it go. My conscience would kill me. That beautiful of a fish needs to be caught another day. Killing and eating something that rare is a waste I think.

That's the whole spirit of fishing imo

[walleyefisherman]

i would keep it. i have told myself if i broke the 50 inch mark i would keep it. i dont like replicas, it shows you what you released and it isnt the same feeling as having your real fish on the wall

as for the guy on minnetonka, yes he was in the wrong for not knowing that the season had ended, but he wasnt the only person who didnt know that it had closed early, and it also says he had a tip up out for NORTHERNS not muskie and also if they are going to close a season they shouldnt do it in the middle of the season they should do it at the end.

[SJonesi]

No.Education is the key and knowledge is power. Keep the ego in check and let her go. Chances are that someone did it before you. Steve

[Hammer Handle]

Isn't it a great country and state where we can make the choice ourselves?

We can catch these large fish in our states and we do have the choice of what we want to do with it.

[SJonesi]

It is a great country and we are able /allowed to make choices ourselves. Consider the choices we make each day and how they impact those around us and the environment. Many people make personal choices everyday that have a detrimental effect on other people. I could type examples for days.So? Exactly my point. Had this discussion a few years ago on another "state" fishing board and won't go down that road again. Do a google search. I make my living from the Natural Resources and I feel a sense of responsibility(another word lacking today) to protect our backyard(my workplace).There's a good reason people come from all over the WORLD to fish muskies in Minnesota, and in the process , infuse the State economy with a lot of money. Protection through education. Crazy concept for some to grasp, but it's never too late. If I'm way off base, please let me know. With so many reasons to release a big fish, help me understand the benefits of intentionally keeping one aside from "it's my right". Thanks. Steve

[Hammer Handle]

I don't mount fish...nor would I keep large fish like this.

However....

Keeping a fish to mount is fine. Other people will see this fish and could encourage another sportsman to learn to fish and bring more money into the economy. Maybe they can't afford a replica? Maybe the "real thing" means more, as anyone can buy a replica. Maybe that big fish will be eaten as the family that caught it has little money? A lot of people fish for sport, but some for food.

True, ANY fish caught and kept will impact a lake. Large ones could impact it more. I believe most people do realize this.

How many of us got excited about fishing from seeing that huge mounted fish and dreaming of catching the "big one"?

Catch-N-Release is great and should be practiced, but don't put someone down that wants to create a life-long memory and possibly bring more money to the sport with more interest generated.

It is their right, and I hope that NEVER changes.

Funny how hunters say "Shoot the big buck and let the little ones grow" and the sportsfisherman say "Keep the little fish that are stunted and let the big ones go." Who is right? Maybe they both are?

[eyehead]

Here's my take on it.... One of the main reason's we have such good musky fishing in our state is because of anglers like SJonesi, myself, and most other muskie anglers in the state. We catch and realese and try to educate people on the importance of realesing. Is it thier right to keep the fish??? Sure, but would muskie fishing be this good if it wasnt for alot of us that do release the bigger fish???? I dought it. So its understandable when a guy gets a little upset when harvesting musky's. Just a thought.....

[PDXFisher]

Ultimately this is a religious war and for many, a non-starter. It starts with the parents and indoctrination and all those things that make us just as unlikely to convert from Methodist to Judaism as going from mounts on a wall to a pic on a blog (which I believe will generate far more interest than a mount in a basement but obviously the person with the mount can employ both methods). I generally don't keep any fish, mostly because I don't enjoy fish as much as other meat and I don't want to be the one to kill something.

I also believe quite strongly the hunter occupies a higher moral ground than I do (I'm a hypocrite, they're not, at least in the willingness to kill their own food sense). If I had to kill my own meat, I'd be darn near a vegetarian. In fact, the only meat I could bring myself to kill would be fish (Salmon, since they'll die soon anyway and a bonk on the noggin is less painful than what they go through, and Walleye cuz they're yummy and mostly plentiful).

But a Muskie is obviously a bad choice for targeting if you want meat. Additionally, I, personally, would never want to take an animal's life out of vanity. But then I cringe when I see the Bassmasters holding fish out of water for everyone to applaud in the middle of an arena, too. Yes, I even feel bad for hooking them. I've held off on trying Sturgeon fishing for years because I didn't feel I had the right to hook something 100 years old (and I hate using bait for many reasons). Seeing so little hooking mortality with them, though, I'm finally going Sturgeon fishing tomorrow. Ah, the mental gymnastics I must do to feel OK about things...

I'm also one of those aforementioned people who comes from out of state and dumps thousands into the local economy for those buggers. That they're so big in MN is just a plus for me, the fact I fish in MN is a function of where the GF's family is, not where the biggest Muskies are. If she was from WI, I'd be there three times a year instead. If there were no Muskies in MN, I'd only be there once a year and when the lakes are frozen. I never would have gone to Southern Illinois two weeks ago and given them my money if I hadn't learned about Chad Cain in MN, who is only there because the big Muskies are.

I've fished C&R waters all my life and preferred them for obvious reasons. It wouldn't bother me a bit to see MN go all C&R for Muskies. I like that so many guides require it in their boats. I like that some guides are willing to get in the water with a fish for 45 minutes and ultimately dive down to colder, more oxygenated water with the fish in order to revive it. I know it's directly in their self-interest to keep the fish in the lake, but there's a sense of stewardship that obviously goes beyond that at play. I wish everyone felt that stewardship and it meant the same thing to them, but they don't. I struggle with my feelings about the subject and have a hard time saying it isn't their right to kill. Like the burgers I eat taking away the right of the cow to life at the hands of another, I would want someone else to take the right of the fisherman to keep a Muskie away, as I couldn't do it.

So I can wish, I just can't throw stones.

[tisosy11]

Depending on the situation...if there was a story behind her or a long fight or struggle to revive.

I would not be able to answer what i would do unless i caught one...probably the same for most...

[PDXFisher]

 Originally Posted By: tisosy11

I would not be able to answer what i would do unless i caught one...probably the same for most...

We caught (very fat) 52" and 54" last year. I start stressing out about the release before they even get close to the boat. I often wonder if I even have fun with it since I stress about reviving them so much...I don't even entertain the idea of keeping them.

[walleyefisherman]

vegetarian an old indian word for bad hunter

[idapaul]

when i musky fish i fish eagle up in ontario so a 52 is not a legal fish.musky tastes like dried squid anyway.

[TomWehler]

Have caught 12 at 52 ....not been able to beat that for some reason. Maybe cause that year class follows me around teasing me to no end.

All fun an very pretty.

Released all.

Figure not my right to kill something that big, pretty an powerful...I'm not going to eat it...so even though rules say I could, we are not into kill for thrill deal.

Have pictue of a couple of them...sweet. All good fun...fish on or not.

Them plus me equals HANDSOME!

Tommy

[ptkane]

I would never keep it.

[sbro73]

No, give someone else the chance of a lifetime. A replica works just fine with me!

[Tim_Anderson]

For me, every fish goes back, including the state record if I am ever so lucky.

I've had three 55 inchers in the boat the past two seasons. It was a thrill to watch them swim away. Never even had to think twice about it. Thankfully, all three of my clients/friends who caught them felt the same way.

Rick Lax makes a fine replica about as close to the real thing as you could ever get. A 55 x 26 fish he did travels with me wherever I go, along with a 16x20 photo of the fisherman with his fish. Truthfully, it's hard to tell them apart. That replica will still be with me thirty or forty years from now. Some of my skin mounts from 20 years ago are about ready for the garbage.

That 55 x 26 musky was released on Mille Lacs two years ago, and is most likely by now a state record contender after a fall diet of those tasty little white mille lacs cheeseburgers! It makes me feel good to know it's still swimming for someone else to experience the thrill of catching it (or even just seeing it), and that there's also many other fishermen out there doing the same thing.

On a side note, I had a client last year who showed up at the landing with a cooler, expecting to keep a big musky if he caught it. We resolved it at the landing that that wasn't going to happen. Wouldn't you know it, that night he caught his first ever musky, a 53 incher. We took some great pictures and released it. Those guys were thrilled! Six weeks later, one of my regular fishing partners caught the very same fish just a short distance from where we caught it. Same length and girth, and same markings really gave it away. It was literally one of the biggest thrills of his life...the size fish he has been after for over 20 years. Now he has a replica of that fish as well.

Catch and release works.