New State Record Muskie?!

Welp.

Nolan Sprengeler – Mille Lacs Lake

The rumors are true! On November 22nd I set out on the last trip of my season with Kevin Kray and Zack Skoglund to chase the queen. At about 9pm I felt that tap on my Thorne Bros 9’6” XXH I’ve been searching for all fall. After a quick battle and a few ridiculous head shakes we had it in the bag. I didn’t realize how giant this fish was until I pulled it out of the net and immediately called Kevin over to assist with the buddy pictures. It measured an incredible 57.75” in length with a 29” girth. The next hour or so was spent trying to get her to release. Eventually we realized this was not going to happen and made the decision to bring it to a certified scale and crush the Minnesota State Record. She weighed 55 lbs and 14.8 oz. Huge shout out to Austin Tausk and Kyle Dorr for helping me find a place to get her weighed and helping with that process. Also Randy at the UPS Store was the man for being so cool about weighing it for us. I’m so incredibly blessed to be apart of this journey with my best friends.

https://www.facebook.com/nolan.sprengeler/posts/10219468909456930

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Holy canoli

Dang, I had seen pictures last night, but didn’t see the girth pictures. Straight up 57.75 X 29 will be tough to beat. I hope the muskie police don’t attack them too bad for keeping it! Cool to see the record be broken.

So cool. So big.

Makes me wonder though, what is the biggest ski in the lake then??? 😳

That’s a beast! Pretty cool to see the official weight record being broke.

The post says “I felt that tap on my Thorne Bros 9’6” XXH I’ve been searching for all fall”, does anyone know what bait/lure they were using? Since he said “that tap” does that imply he was using a live sucker?

Pat McSharry wrote:

Dang, I had seen pictures last night, but didn’t see the girth pictures. Straight up 57.75 X 29 will be tough to beat. I hope the muskie police don’t attack them too bad for keeping it! Cool to see the record be broken.

They tried to release it but unfortunately it wasn’t successful. Things happen. Glad at least it was big enough they could keep it and not let it rot.

What a pig. At least they tried to release it. I would make a replica for myself and sell the real one. There are many companies that will pay big money for it.

Wow and wow! Congrats on that absolute beast!

blank wrote:

Since he said “that tap” does that imply he was using a live sucker?

My work supervisor is first cousins with the guy in the red shirt on the right (Kevin Kray). They are going to see each other on Thanksgiving so my supe is going to ask him about this catch. I am pretty sure they were ripping medussas and bulldawgs which imitate ciscoes/tulibees.

blank wrote:

That’s a beast! Pretty cool to see the official weight record being broke.

The post says “I felt that tap on my Thorne Bros 9’6” XXH I’ve been searching for all fall”, does anyone know what bait/lure they were using? Since he said “that tap” does that imply he was using a live sucker?

I have no idea what they were throwing, but a lot of times when a musky inhales a big rubber bait like a bulldawg, medussa, or paddletail, all you feel is a tick and slack line.

Charlie W wrote:

So cool. So big.

Makes me wonder though, what is the biggest ski in the lake then??? 😳

It likely was

Pat McSharry wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>blank wrote:</div>
That’s a beast! Pretty cool to see the official weight record being broke.

The post says “I felt that tap on my Thorne Bros 9’6” XXH I’ve been searching for all fall”, does anyone know what bait/lure they were using? Since he said “that tap” does that imply he was using a live sucker?

I have no idea what they were throwing, but a lot of times when a musky inhales a big rubber bait like a bulldawg, medussa, or paddletail, all you feel is a tick and slack line.

Ahh, yeah that would make sense along with the XXH rod opposed to a live sucker.

Great Fish. I’m sure there are more as big or bigger swimming in Mille Lacs. No matter how hard Fishermen try to release big fish alive, It doesn’t always happen. If you fish Muskie and Big Pike enough sooner or later you are going to hook a fish that simply can’t be released alive. It has happened to me a few times on Big Pike in Canada and Once on a Muskie in Minnesota.

Congrats to the Fishermen on the new Record !!!

What a fish! Finally a Mille Lacs fish that can truly be called the state record, and this is the biggest measurements I remember seeing by far. Surprised it only broke the record by a couple pounds… weight calculator puts it at 60+ but you can see it doesn’t carry that crazy girth all the way to the tail. Absolute monster fish

What an Awesome Specimen!! 64 year old record broken. I bet the next one comes out of MilleLacs as well & won’t take that long. Congrats to the Angler! What a fish!!

I am convinced that this record has been broke multiple times out of Mille Lacs over the years but the fish was always released. Since this fish died, getting it weighed on a certified scale for potential state record recognition is a no brainer.

gim wrote:

I am convinced that this record has been broke multiple times out of Mille Lacs over the years but the fish was always released. Since this fish died, getting it weighed on a certified scale for potential state record recognition is a no brainer.

Honestly I disagree… there’s a couple Mille fish every year that get labelled as the state record if they kept it. But have you ever seen one reported with a length/girth combination that put it bigger than this fish? I personally can’t remember one. A very special fish.

tswoboda wrote:

Honestly I disagree… there’s a couple Mille fish every year that get labelled as the state record if they kept it. But have you ever seen one reported with a length/girth combination that put it bigger than this fish? I personally can’t remember one. A very special fish.

Hard to say exactly since none of those fish were weighed. I do think that there were fish caught in the past (usually this time of year in November) that eclipsed the 54 pound mark. Who knows, maybe one of them were this exact fish.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I am convinced that this record has been broke multiple times out of Mille Lacs over the years but the fish was always released. Since this fish died, getting it weighed on a certified scale for potential state record recognition is a no brainer.

Honestly I disagree… there’s a couple Mille fish every year that get labelled as the state record if they kept it. But have you ever seen one reported with a length/girth combination that put it bigger than this fish? I personally can’t remember one. A very special fish.

THIS

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
I am convinced that this record has been broke multiple times out of Mille Lacs over the years but the fish was always released. Since this fish died, getting it weighed on a certified scale for potential state record recognition is a no brainer.

Honestly I disagree… there’s a couple Mille fish every year that get labelled as the state record if they kept it. But have you ever seen one reported with a length/girth combination that put it bigger than this fish? I personally can’t remember one. A very special fish.

I seem to remember some pictures 2-3 years ago of a fish from Mille Lacs that had measurements real close to those of this fish. If I remember correctly it was reported at being over 58″ Long and had a Est. weight of close to 60Lbs. I think there was even a post on here with the pictures of that fish.

gim wrote:

tswoboda wrote:
Honestly I disagree… there’s a couple Mille fish every year that get labelled as the state record if they kept it. But have you ever seen one reported with a length/girth combination that put it bigger than this fish? I personally can’t remember one. A very special fish.

Hard to say exactly since none of those fish were weighed.

That’s my point, those fish weren’t weighed yet people jump to call them the state record based off very crude weight calculators – I think that takes away from the true records. This fish was weighed so we can call it the state record and should be celebrated as such.

fishthumper wrote:

If I remember correctly it was reported at being over 58″ Long and had a Est. weight of close to 60Lbs.

If that were true then it would be the release category state record, but it is not.

If that were true then it would be the release category state record, but it is not.
[/quote]

All I was saying is there were other fish caught out of Mille lacs the last few years that may have been as big or bigger than this fish. There are a lot of fishermen who don’t care about records or about having a mounted fish. All they care about is chasing and catching BIG fish. If this gut had been successful and the fish had been released alive he would not be the record holder right now either.

fishthumper wrote:

All I was saying is there were other fish caught out of Mille lacs the last few years that may have been as big or bigger than this fish. There are a lot of fishermen who don’t care about records or about having a mounted fish. All they care about is chasing and catching BIG fish. If this gut had been successful and the fish had been released alive he would not be the record holder right now either.

That’s what I was trying to say too.

I don’t want to discredit this fish by any means though. I hope it is certified as the new state record. A Mille Lacs muskie deserves to have that record.

fishthumper wrote:

All I was saying is there were other fish caught out of Mille lacs the last few years that may have been as big or bigger than this fish.

I don’t think that’s accurate.

The Mille Lacs Band DNR caught one bigger during their electrofishing surveying in 2019.
http://www.outdoornews.com/2019/07/01/world-record-muskie-its-still-out-there-in-mille-lacs/

tswoboda wrote:

If that were true then it would be the release category state record, but it is not.

You assume the person who caught it cares about records. You would be surprised by the number of (Mille Lacs) guys who don’t !

Great fish, Congrats!

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

tswoboda wrote:
If that were true then it would be the release category state record, but it is not.

You assume the person who caught it cares about records. You would be surprised by the number of (Mille Lacs) guys who don’t !

I’m sure you’re right. But I think it’s fair to assume a fish that makes it to facebook or public forums was caught by someone who would register a record fish.

tswoboda wrote:

Honestly I disagree… there’s a couple Mille fish every year that get labelled as the state record if they kept it. But have you ever seen one reported with a length/girth combination that put it bigger than this fish? I personally can’t remember one. A very special fish.

Agreed. This is length and girth the biggest fish I have ever heard about being caught. THere was a longer one caught by the tribe, but no idea on girth of that one. All of the ones angled were shorter and less girthy.
Its also possible this fish was significantly heavier but lost weight due to time elapsed to get it weighed. I am quite sure it was many hours before they could get it weighed at the UPS store since it was caught at 9PM.

Man!
That’s what fishing is all about.

Absolute freak of fish