The “BEAST” caught and released on Rainy Lake!!

To quote my favorite ledgendary angler, AL Linder, “She’s a HORSE guys!!!!”. Great job on the release!

Cory

That is a fish of a lifetime, very cool

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WOW- Great fish and congrats!!!!

All you needed to do was sit down and lay her across your lap with a funny expression on your face and that pic would have circled the world as the new world record!!

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LOL!! I’ve been waiting for that pic to surface again!! Heck wasn’t that caught on Rainy Lake too.

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To quote my favorite ledgendary angler, AL Linder, “She’s a HORSE guys!!!!”. Great job on the release!

Cory

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LOVE IT and Yes “SHE WAS A HORSE!!” Keep your toes out of the water kids!!

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That is a fish of a lifetime, very cool

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Thanks Joe!! As you know well there is nothing more rewarding in the guide biz than a customer hitting the sweet spot on a big fish!! We’re very happy for the whole crew as they but some BIG BIG fish on the boat.

Wow, congrats on that monster pike! Definitely a fish worthy of a replica.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but you might want to have one hand supporting the belly (weight) of the fish. Holding a heavy fish with all the weight on its gill can do some serious damage to the fish. You seem to be concerned about the health of the fish you are releasing, otherwise I wouldn’t say anything. Again, I hope you don’t mind me pointing this out. Congrats on the fish and good luck.

Very Nice great job true trophy

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Wow, congrats on that monster pike! Definitely a fish worthy of a replica.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but you might want to have one hand supporting the belly (weight) of the fish. Holding a heavy fish with all the weight on its gill can do some serious damage to the fish. You seem to be concerned about the health of the fish you are releasing, otherwise I wouldn’t say anything. Again, I hope you don’t mind me pointing this out. Congrats on the fish and good luck.

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I assure you the fish was released perfectly fine. Thanks for YOUR concern. Baby Mallard I pose this question to you. When you catch a big fish how do you lift the fish out of the net?? Are you going to tell me that you DO NOT lift the fish by the gil plate THEN support the belly?? If so I can assure you from handling thousands of big fish this is a very very good way to rip your hands off with a big fish. That is FACT. Furthermore this is when most guys will in turn drop the fish on her head inside the boat which TRULY does damage to the fish and is NOT just an opinion from some anglers or some doing research MAINLY on large Muskies OVER 25lbs.

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Very Nice great job true trophy

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Thanks Bob!! Shawn should be very proud!!

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Wow, congrats on that monster pike! Definitely a fish worthy of a replica.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but you might want to have one hand supporting the belly (weight) of the fish. Holding a heavy fish with all the weight on its gill can do some serious damage to the fish. You seem to be concerned about the health of the fish you are releasing, otherwise I wouldn’t say anything. Again, I hope you don’t mind me pointing this out. Congrats on the fish and good luck.

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I assure you the fish was released perfectly fine. Thanks for YOUR concern. Baby Mallard I pose this question to you. When you catch a big fish how do you lift the fish out of the net?? Are you going to tell me that you DO NOT lift the fish by the gil plate THEN support the belly?? If so I can assure you from handling thousands of big fish this is a very very good way to rip your hands off with a big fish. That is FACT. Furthermore this is when most guys will in turn drop the fish on her head inside the boat which TRULY does damage to the fish and is NOT just an opinion from some anglers or some doing research MAINLY on large Muskies OVER 25lbs.

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Geeze Chris, the guy just congratulates you and your clients on some great fish and provides a little constructive input on large fish handling and you jump down his throat. He stated “don’t take this the wrong way” and “I hope you don’t mind me pointing this out”. Apparently you did take it wrong. FWIW a horizontal hold is better on larger fish.

From: Handling Techniques and Survival of Released Muskellunge by Rod Ramsell

Quite simply, the worst type of out-of-water handling is the vertical hold. A vertical hold exerts a significant amount of stress on the fish’s mechanical physiology.

For the average healthy muskellunge, approximately 5 to12 percent of its weight is in the skull. The remaining 88 to 95 percent of the weight is comprised of the trunk musculature, trunk skeleton, skin, and the viscera. The larger the fish, the higher the percentage of non-skull body weight within that range. This is due to the fact that, at a certain point in their life (approximately 42 inches in length), adult muskellunge tend to increase in size proportionately more in girth than in length.

The primary supportive connection of all this body mass is the muscle and ligament connection of the first cervical vertebrae with the base of the skull. Very little support is provided by the connective tissue on the underside of the head in the vicinity of the isthmus. As a result, a fish held (or hung) vertically has a tremendous amount of gravitational stress upon its mechanical physiology. This can best be seen by the amount of stretch of a fish’s length when it is held vertically. A 39-inch muskellunge, measured laying flat on a measuring board, will measure between 40 and 40.5 inches when held vertically; a 48 inch muskellunge will measure between 50.5 and 51 inches under the same conditions. This increase in length results from the stretching of connective tissues between some of the more anterior vertebrae and the articulation of some of the weakly “hinged” areas and skeletal structures within the skull (see figure A). Using gill net mortalities or recently deceased angling release mortalities that I have recovered, I have demonstrated this physiological effect on Esocids to several student interns and new employees that I have been assigned to train over the years. By showing them this physiological effect first hand, I feel it has helped all of them to become better handlers of the fish they will be working with during their professional careers.

While a brief vertical hold of a muskellunge may not be lethal in all instances, the longer a fish is in this position, the more likely it becomes that damage to the spinal column or its connection to the base of the skull will occur. Muscles in the critical areas will resist the pull of gravity on a fish’s mass briefly, but fatigue quickly causes those muscles to relax and put excessive strain on vulnerable connective tissues. Should a fish struggle or start to shake while in this vertical position, than permanent damage that will result in mortality of that fish becomes virtually guaranteed. The vertical hang is akin to the effects of hanging a “rustler” in the Old West. Whether it was on a gallows or on horseback, once the support for the victim’s body was removed, the end result was the same. If the human body, whose head-to-trunk weight proportions are similar to those of Esocids, can’t take this vertical hanging stress, how can we as sportsmen expect a muskellunge we intend to release to fare any better?

The amount of pull on the muscles and fragile bones of the operculum (gill cover) can also be a concern on vertically held fish. Injury to these mechanical structures can have negative effects on a fish’s ability to feed and respire normally. As mentioned previously, gill lamellae are extremely sensitive structures involved in the acquisition of dissolved oxygen from the water for respiration. When I see an angler with a hand inserted into this delicate area to hold a fish up, it gives me cause for much concern. This area of a fish’s body did not evolve as a “grab handle” for sportsmen. Very few anglers have enough of an understanding of the structure and physiology of this area to go around sticking their “paws” in the gill aperture. If your hands or fingers frequently get scrapped or cut grasping a fish in this area, then guess what…you’re doing it wrong! Some anglers wear a glove to protect their hands from these annoying little nicks. Anybody care to guess what’s wrong with this picture? Yep, you just increased the “bulk” of the hand you are inserting into this area of fragile structures and limited space. I’ve seen many dead muskellunge with damaged gill arches and clubbed and necrotic gill filaments and lamellae as a result of poor handling by their captors.

The whole article can be found here:http://www.thenextbite.com/node/11334?page=show

I don’t mean to start a peeing match. Just providing some info, especially since you do try to take care of the fish you and your clients catch. Keep up the good work.

I simply take exception to the criticism based on a philosophy while most all fish are at some point held by the gil plate by all anglers during the process of netting and photographing that fish. I would love to see you hang over the side of the boat while using both hands to lift a 25lb fish out of the net. It is my suggestion that as an angler then re-enters the boat with a 25lb + fish It is RARELY done with two hands. I also believe as you again go to release the fish anglers ONCE AGAIN go to one hand under the gil plate as you bring the fish back to the water. Leaning over the boat without supporting yourself with your otherhand is a quick way to take a drink with 25lbs extended in front of your body and frankly is nearly impossible. Thus my theory is 10 more seconds for a quick picture does no more harm than what has already been done if indeed this has harmed the fish to begin with. THAT is the point I’m making, and you bet I take this seriously. IF this vertical hold is killing “NORTHERN PIKE” then I want to see the facts on this study. That is my point. The studies being done are primarily Muskie studies on fish over 25lbs. 25lbs is typically the MINIMUM weight in which these studies are even discussing the possibility of these damages. So yes we’ve caught 1 fish that even brushes the tip of the weights being questioned. I once again would prefer to simply congratulate Shawn for his great fish. I congratulate him for his decision to release the fish unharmed and am not too excited with the suggestion that the fish was hurt in anyway. I assure you this fish as all of our other big fish if being released is done very carefully as I am sure you will do the same. I do not agree we discontinue holding walleyes, crappies or pike in this vertical position as it is my belief this is when most guys drop the fish in the boat which WILL flat out kill the fish. That is something I believe we should do a study on.

Like I said, I’m not trying to start a peeing match. I just pointed out that Baby Mallard made a simple suggestion, and provided some info of my own, nothing more. Nobody was being critical.

I too was providing factual information as it involves the handling of large fish which we likely do more than our share of. Any suggestion that we’ve harmed this big fish is something I won’t take too lightly. We certainly could have simply skin mounted the fish which a very large percentage of people would have chose to do on a fish of this magnitude. Thus far we’ve landed and effectively released 37 pike since May 1st exceeding 10lbs along with many large walleyes. I happen to believe our frequent handling of larger fish rather than qouting a study as it relates to 25lb + Muskies and above may give anglers further insight of what really happens from Hook up to release. My hope is all anglers are unhooking the fish while they are in the net. All anglers have the right equipment to handle large fish. My hope is everyone has the camera ready before the fish enters the boat. My guess is one guy is designated picture taker like in our guide boat. We take these precautions as I hope you do as well. If my presumptions are true our large fish on Rainy Lake will continue to grow. Unfortunately witnessing fish dropped and floated,Gut hooked fish thrown overboard repeatedly, Gappling sized hooks ripping faces of fish and fish out of the water for far too long is the reality in which I witness in many boats each year. I feel correcting this issue will truly provide the largest positive impact on both big and small fish should anyone care enough to fund a study for it.

Still I am happy that it appears we have a few anglers that take the handling of their fish seriously, and definately applaud that. There is NOBODY that wants Rainy Lake to conserve the elite caliber fishing more than a guide that works on that body of water.

I appreciate your concern and respect of the fish you handle. As you say not everyone takes precautions to ensure a good release regardless of the size or species of fish. I am fortunate enough to handle a substantial number of large fish of varying species throughout the year also. So I also feel qualified to speak on the topic. I don’t think we’re in disagreement at all on the topic of fish handling. So with that this thread has taken a turn from congratulating an angler on a great fish. Keep up the good work. You certainly are giving your clients a great experience. Rainy Lake is truly a special place, and one that my family has been enjoying for 6 generations.

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Wow, congrats on that monster pike! Definitely a fish worthy of a replica.

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Baby Mallard I pose this question to you. When you catch a big fish how do you lift the fish out of the net?? Are you going to tell me that you DO NOT lift the fish by the gil plate THEN support the belly?? If so I can assure you from handling thousands of big fish this is a very very good way to rip your hands off with a big fish. That is FACT. Furthermore this is when most guys will in turn drop the fish on her head inside the boat which TRULY does damage to the fish and is NOT just an opinion from some anglers or some doing research MAINLY on large Muskies OVER 25lbs.

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I was hoping you would keep an open mind and not be offended by my previous post. Sorry, my intentions were not to offend you. I was just suggesting a way to hold a big fish for photos that is better for the overall health of the fish.

I have caught my fair share of big fish over the years and have learned a thing or two while doing it. I treat other species of fish with the same respect as a muskie. A 25 lb. northern is quite a bit bigger than the average sized muskie caught.

I wish we did not live so far away from each other, I would have no problem with showing you how I grab the fish. A friend/guide showed me how to properly hold a big fish to prevent doing damage to the fish from simply taking a pic. You are right, I do use one hand in the gill area to grab the fish. It is very important where that hand is to ensure a secure grip. I keep my thumb outside of the gill and just underneath its jaw area, and then make a fist. Once I get a secure grip on the fish, I slowly raise the fish upward and when I can reach the stomach area of the fish with my other (left) hand I secure the belly of the fish so that the weight is distributed. I can easily get a grip on the belly of the fish before the fish is lifted all the way out of the water. I have also seen other guys lift and then lean back to disperse some of the weight of the fish on the side of the boat, and then they grab the fish by the belly. I try to hold the fish in a horizontal position as much as possible. I have not dropped a fish with this grip since I started using it a few years ago. I have lifted fish up to 45 lbs. using this grip and hope to use it on a bigger one this season.

Whatever you choose to do is up to you. It does not make you a better fisherman whether or not you choose to go horizontal or vertical. Although I have not met you in person, I can tell from the many threads you have on here that you are an accomplished fisherman/guide. And since you have stated on many of your threads the importance of catch and release, I really didn’t think you would be offended by someone pointing this out.

As usual Chris, great read, and great photos! Makes me want to go and fish for a beast myself!

Thanks Pal!!

We know where she lives!!! Better loosen up your drag.