Winnie Musky

Forgot to report that I did see two legal fish taken the week I was there. The first was on Tue night right before the rain hit at dark. Guy thought it was a northern his wife got on a #5 craw color rapala. Nice fish of 41.5″ and 19.5# A shame he didn’t know what he had and abused it. We tried to revive at the dock and release but wasn’t to be. They decided a mount was too spendy($10-12/in) and cut it up for fish fry. The other was a 45″ at 24# caught on Thursday. He claimed he knew where he could get a cheaper mount done and left quickly with the fish. I’ve never caught one that big but just can’t see keeping these fish. Guess they bought a license like I did though so to each their own. How old is a fish that size??

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They decided a mount was too spendy($10-12/in) and cut it up for fish fry.

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SGT Alot of the growth charts you see are different with longitude. But around our area I would have to say that fish was around the 9-11 year range. Pete Mania once quoted a study that found a musky grows to full size in 15 – 20 years. I’m with you, it’s a shame it happened, but like you stated they did buy a license and they have that right. But on the other side it’s just one of many that is known about! Even experienced musky fishermen can’t guarantee that their fish will make it. Muskies are very prone to extended periods of stress, and those of us with wives knows what that will do to ya! All we can do is CPR and the “P” should be as short as possible, and that goes for any fish that is going to be released, no matter what species. T all who read this, pleeeease leave it in the water until you get the camera ready if you know what I mean muskyman

Just me, but I would have pulled the drain plug on that SOB’s boat, can’t get out… can’t eat muskies.

I SECOND THAT DANO….BUT YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING….WACK EM AND STACK EM CAUSE NOTHING TASTES LIKA A TROPHY… IF YOU CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LUNGE AND A PIKE YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS CALLING YOURSELF A FISHERMAN… THAT IS ABOUT THE SAME AS SAYING YOU CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LARGEMOUTH BASS AND A SMALLMOUTH……. PEOPLE LIKE THAT MAKE MY BLOOD BOIL…

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A shame he didn’t know what he had and abused it

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We stopped a Bobbers for a bump one night. There was a local guide (Jeff something..I think) talking about how/where to put an eye/perch in your boat. I thought this was a great idea. What better way to kill a windy evening and what better way to keep your guests coming back to a resort. Now I didn’t listen to him from start to finish..maybe 10 minutes or so.He might have cover this, but I didn’t hear it. What a great time to talk about why we have slots and what it does to a lake when you take that kind of a fish out.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not dumping the accountbility off of the fisherman and on to the resort owners….BUT who has the most to lose? The vacationer that can go to any lake, or the resort owner?

99% of the fisherman in MN don’t have easy access to conservation tactics.

There will always be a few…can’t think of a better term…”poachers” out there flexing their rights…but the majority once informed will do the right thing. Call me a “believer”.

Just my 2.5 cents.