https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/green-bay-58-inch-muskie-fish-of-a-lifetime/
Fish sure are big in Green Bay.
Too bad this one was found dead a day later, put on a bump board and was only 55. Only.
Don't know why someone needs to embellish a 55 inch fish.
I believe that all true muskies, regardless of strain can reproduce. So, tiger muskies are the ones who are sterile. And the Great Lakes strain is no tiger musky. That being said, I thought I heard/saw somewhere that tigers may actually spawn as well, so who really knows.
What I do know is this....muskies and fish will go through the motions of spawning. There are many factors affecting whether or not the spawn will be effective.
On my "home" lake of Pewaukee, muskies spawn every spring. But the results of the spawn is near 0%. What happens? Many things...perhaps the water wasn't quite the right temperature for the eggs to hatch. Perhaps the bottom of the lake changes due to winds and the eggs do not hatch. Perhaps (and most likely) carp/suckers came around after the eggs were dropped and eat them. There are dozens of factors that lead to an unsuccessful spawn.
This unsuccessful reproduction isn't just for southeastern Wisconsin lakes, or the Bay. It also happens in lakes up north. Why? Anyone's best guess as there are many factors that go into play.
That is why it is imperative for clubs and the DNR to do their best to keep repopulating the lakes with fish. And not just muskies.
Pewaukee has a rockin' Walleyes for Tomorrow Chapter. Those guys are catching their own females in nets, milking their eggs, fertilizing the eggs with milk from males, then hatching the eggs and putting the fry back into the lake. They are optimizing the spawning process...albeit artificially. And even after doing all of that, the fry are so small and delicate that I want to say the anticipated survival rate is .5%. (To adulthood and 15 inches.) Half of one percent. Although I think Pewaukee is doing a lot better than that estimate.
Walleyes for Tomorrow Pewaukee Lake
Same holds true for muskies. You gotta put fish into lakes when natural reproduction just isn't working. Take and put fisheries.
I'm pretty proud of the work my chapter has done, Milwaukee Chapter of Muskies Inc. I'm also proud of the work that the Muskellunge Club of Wisconsin has done regarding stocking. We are doing our best to keep muskies in the water.
I see online where many other chapters are active in stocking as well. And this is great. The future of the sport depends on it.
I do not know what was done with the fish after it was found dead.
I too did not like the vertical hold. It's been proven that vertical holds are bad for fish.
I found it odd that someone would claim a 55 inch fish was 58 inches. Huge is huge at that point. Double nickles are rare.
Kvandehel...Not all fish are "created equal", much like the human race. A person at full maturity, may be 6' 5" and the next might be 5' 10" (examples only). Same with fish. A muskie in that 55"++ range is a genetic freak...eating what they have available could girth a fish like that to incredible proportions. There are some mature muskies that top out in the 50"+ range.
It;s still "just" a fish, but what a piggie!!
I think it was made special because he didn't measure properly.
When I was a kid and musky fishing up there wasn't popular like it is now, we saw lots of dead 50" fish. Used to look like birch logs on the shoreline, the long white bellies. Biggest we had was a 54"er, it was dying on the surface so we went up to it in our paddle boats and picked it up. Carried it around the resort telling everyone we caught it LOL. That was a weird stretch with how many dead ones there were. Talking 15+ years ago though too. We just thought they died of old age at the time, were no small ones.
