Video: Angler Releases Potential Record Muskie
OutdoorHub Reporters 12.03.15
A Minnesota angler may have recently landed a state—or even world—record muskie from Lake Mille Lacs, making it the second time that a potential record has been reported there this year. Dean Block of Ramsay caught the massive fish the day before Thanksgiving and estimated it at about 62 pounds, but the fish was released and not brought to a certified scale.
“Well, I guess it’s time to let out the news of a fish that may have made history,” Block wrote on the fishing forums at outdoorsfirst.com. “On November 25th we were out on the pond trolling in my boat when the clicker went off on my partners rod (Dominic Hoyos) with a large custom bait (I had it painted by Tyler Wolf in Wisconsin) at 12:35pm and what we were able to put in the bag was absolutely unbelievable.”
According to Block, the fish measured just over 55 inches long and 30 inches in girth. The angler nicknamed the muskie “Queen of Mille Lacs.”
Block said that it only occurred to him later that it could be a record, and by that time he was already back ashore.
“It all happened so fast and it never really sunk in until we were back on shore at Jason Hamernick’s place and the hand shakes and hugs started. But, if we had to do it all over again Dominic and I would still release that fish,” he wrote.
The West Central Tribune reports that another angler caught a 57-inch muskie from the same lake just days before, but was also released before seeing a certified weight.
Minnesota’s current record muskie is a 54-pounder caught from Lake Winnibigoshish in 1957. According to the International Game Fish Association, the current world record belongs to a 67-pound, eight-ounce fish caught by Cal Johnson in Wisconsin in 1949.
You can watch this muskie’s release below:
