New State Record Muskie!

[Kevin Lee]

Dave Rose just sent me his story from Field and Stream about the new state record Muskie. Holy crap folks, this is a big fish!!!

http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2009/09/new-michigan-state-record-great-lakes-muskie-caught-torch-lake

[xraygirl_77]

That is amazing! Just a little bigger than the one I caught out here ice fishing last Winter...mine was only 24 "....LOL! That is a MASSIVE fish! Thanks for posting that.

[Enterprise]

xraygirl,

Do you have a picture of that fish and a general location of where it was caught? Upperbay, lowerbay, south of Esky, etc? I'm keeping a log of the occurences of the stray muskies in the area, thanks.

Steve Horton

[xraygirl_77]

I sure do have a picture! That is how I found out it was a muskie...I thought it was just a messed up looking pike when I caught it. It had some lamprey like marks on it, so I threw it back. Luckily I took the picture first. I caught it across from the Days River..more towards the Eastern side of the Bay. I took the picture with my cellphone. I was ice fishing by myself for the first time and took a picture of everything I caught, just to prove to my husband I was actually catching fish. It was caught on January 8, 2009 just before 1:00 pm.

[Enterprise]

Sorry, thats just your average run of the mill hammerhandle pike. Not a muskie. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Some muskies have been showing up in the Bay de Noc area as of the last couple years but hey are pretty rare. They stray up this way from WDNR plants of spotted Great Lakes Muskies in the lower bay. You can tell for sure if its a muskie by counting the sensory pores under its chin. See the link below..........

http://www.michiganmuskiealliance.org/difference.php

[CaptainKenLee]

I don't think your fish is a muskie, it looks like a pike with red sore disease (very common on pike in the winter, usually clears up in the summer). Pike have dark bodies with light spots and muskies have light bodies with dark spots. That's the easiest way to tell them apart. Got your pm too...great job on the walleye fishing!

[xraygirl_77]

Well thanks for letting me know. When I caught it, I thought it was a pike. I had not even heard of a hammerhandle pike before. I showed the picture to some guys at work and they all told me it was a muskie. Now that I know about the pores..I will probably never catch one again to have the chance to count them! LOL!

[xraygirl_77]

Thanks Captain Ken! It's ok that it wasn't a muskie. I thought it was a nasty messed up pike to begin with..but everyone else told me it was a muskie. I did check out that site that Enterprise posted in his reply. It showed about the light background with dark spots for a muskie and how pike are the opposite. My fish clearly has a dark background with light spots. Well now I know. Last Winter was my first time ice fishing. I did go once about 10 years ago with my husband on Indian Lake..but that was for perch. I definitely know what a perch looks like :) I hope to get in more ice fishing this winter..but with our baby due around Christmas it will be a busy time. Thanks again for clearing that up. I appreciate it!

[springfield]

Looks like the yoopers better start coming down state to catch any big fish, with the new Brown & Muskie just recently hooked. I guess when you get use to catchin those little ones its still fun and wont hurt your arm or lose any tackle. Just Kiddin Guy's & Gal's, but you must admit those two are quite a pair of fish for that close together.

[Enterprise]

I know you were just kidding Springfield, and there is great fishing all over this state, but the state record spotted muskie has been caught and released at least a few times from the UP before Kyle claimed the record. Released fish don't count only dead ones, unfortunately, since there is no true way to verify weight when the fish is released.

[hook em and cook em]

I caught a muskie a2 summers ago down by portage point. It wasnt a pike, as i know the difference between the two. I released the fish. It was fairly large, about 40 inches if i remember right. Was a pretty fish. I had a picture of it on my old computer, but it crashed and the picture is gone.

[Enterprise]

Thanks for that info Hook 'em and Cook 'em and thanks for releasing the fish. It was sublegal anyway but at least a few undersized ones have been kept by fishermen mistaking them for pike. Did you catch it on the break, open water or up shallow? What was it caught on? Lastly, are you the Hook 'em and Cook 'em who frequents the Drummond Island area in the summer? Thanks for any more additional info.