survival rate of a musky caught through the ice?

[ZEEK1223]

There was a post on FM last year with the huge musky caught on tonka. There was pics of how they drilled holes right in a row, and released the fish. My question: If you are targeting musky/ big northerns through the ice. Do you drill those holes right away before fishing with intent of catching a monster? My guess would be the guy that caught the monster drilled the holes while the monster was iced. Did the fish live? I am not against targeting large fish through the ice. Just asking what is the proper way to release a huge fish back through the ice? IMO if I was targeting huge fish You should have the holes pre-drilled. I only ask this knowing that if I caught a fish like that I would be scrambling to try to find a way to get the fish back to the water.

[DHanson]

The muskie season closed on December 1st. There is no ice fishing for muskies unless you can find early safe ice prior to December 1st.

If you are talking about the monster muskie caught on Tonka last year through the ice that created all that chaos last year....that fish was actually kept. The DNR confiscated the fish because it was caught out of season. Then later the DNR decided to return the fish because the closing of the muskie season was a new law starting 2008. This angler was unaware of that and the DNR decided to give him a warning because of the new law. One year later though there is no more warnings. The season is closed and you can not target them even if you intend on releasing them. Hope this helps.

Edit: Just saw you had northern mentioned in there too. I ice fish for big pike on occasion. I will say that a nice 10" size hole is fine for the big girls. I can not stress enough how important it is to release these fish as fast as possible. We are lucky in the open water season where we can net the fish and keep them in the water while we unhook the fish. In the winter, that's not really happening. It is important to have all your tools ready before you catch that big fish. Have your pliers, mouth spreader, hook cutters (knipex) all ready so when you need them they are right there. If you need a photo, make it quick, so keep that camera ready too. Just think how we (humans) can't breathe under water, it is the same for fish out of the water. Good luck!

[JRedig]

Border waters are open, so it is still legal to fish for muskies.

If you catch the fish and pull it out of the hole you're fishing, what is keeping you from putting it back down the same hole? I'm not sure why anything else would be a consideration....

[Jay Hanson]

the fins and fish would freeze

[guideman]

The Muskie season is closed in Wisconsin, MN and Ontario, so I'm not to sure that the season is continuous in those boarder waters. I do believe it is open on the western boarder between MN and the Dakotas, because their muskie season (Dakotas) is continuous.

The guy last winter with the large Muskie had fought the fish for a very long time. They made the livewell in the ice, because they were unable to revive the fish by sticking it head first back into the hole.

Muskies don't have a very high servival rate when caught on livebait through the ice. Even before the closed season came into effect last year, very few serious Muskie anglers targeted them under the ice.

Despite of the Muskies huge size and tough guy image, they just don't handle well. It behoves us as anglers to take all of that into concideration and to do what is best for the species. If you do get an insidental Muskie while Pike fishing, try to release the fish as quickly as possible and always handle them with great care.

Happy Holidays!

"Ace"

Ace guide service.