Will can post the photo.
Grand Haven angler lands 50-inch musky during Big Lake fishing trip
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07/29/10 Bob Kingsley | Chronicle correspondent
Mike Hansen caught a fish of a lifetime during a recent Big Lake excursion off Grand Haven.
“We were trolling for salmon in 150 feet of water off Grand Haven and doing pretty well,” Hansen said. “I was running a spoon on lead-core (approximately 55-60 feet down) when we had another big fish on, but this one was giving us quite a battle.
“The first we saw of the fish was when the tail came to the surface and we knew for sure it wasn’t a salmon,” said Hansen. After a 20-minute battle, fishing partner Will Smigelski slipped the net under a huge musky that was slightly more than 50 inches in length and had a girth of 22-23 inches.
After some measurements and a couple photographs, the anglers held the fish over the side of the boat until it full revived and let it go.
“It’s nice knowing that fish is still out there,” Hansen said.
There are two categories of Muskellunge found in Michigan waters:
The Great Lakes Spotted strain was once commonly found in West Michigan, but now is found primarily in Lake St Clair, the Upper Peninsula, the northern Lower Peninsula, and the Green Bay area of Wisconsin. The more common strain is the Northern which is currently being raised by the DNR at the Wolf Lake Hatchery. The brood stock for all of the Northern strain being planted in Michigan is taken from Thornapple Lake and Hudson Lake. These are the muskellunge being planted in Hamlin Lake (Mason County), Murray Lake and Campau Lake (Kent County) and Thornapple Lake (Barry County). There were 2,700 Northern strain muskellunge planted in Lake Macatawa in 1997, but that program has since been discontinued. It is possible some of the original Northern are still alive.
Mona Lake is scheduled to receive one of the early plants of Great Lakes muskellunge once that particular DNR program has been initiated.
But which strain of Muskellunge was it that Mike Hansen caught off Grand Haven?
Was it a Northern strain planted in Lake Macatawa 13 years ago or could it be a Great Lakes strain that wandered over from Wisconsin waters?
“I’m not so sure it’s either one,” said Will Schultz, President of the Michigan Musky Alliance (MMA). “It’s very possible that is a ‘trickle down’ fish that came out of Thornapple Lake. Over the past few years, Northern strain muskellunge have been taken out of the Grand River and Spring Lake which makes finding one off Grand Haven a distinct possibility.”
After looking at the photo of Hansen’s fish, Schultz still wasn’t convinced if it was a Northern or Great Lakes strain muskellunge.
“Without a better photo, I can’t say for sure which one it might be, but I’m still leaning towards it being a trickle-down from Thornapple Lake,” he said.
Scott Ruiter, who owns Big Fish Taxidermy in Muskegon said the formula for estimating the weight of a released muskellunge is to square the girth (in this case, 22×22), multiply by the length in inches, then divide by 800.
“Without seeing the fish, I’d say it probably weighed somewhere between 30 and 33 pounds,” Ruiter said.
For those who prefer to release trophy fish — such as Hansen — rather than putting a skin-mount on the wall, there is always the option of having an exact replica custom made of graphite or fiberglass. Molds for most fish, whether fresh or salt water are readily available. Although somewhat more pricey, this process allows you to have a trophy mount plus the satisfaction of knowing the fish that provided such a fond memory might still be alive.
Hansen’s muskellunge could be called a fish of a lifetime, but the odds of taking a huge musky appear to be getting better as several have been hooked in the Grand River system (Spring Lake included), Port Sheldon and from the Muskegon Channel. During the past three weeks, there have been two reports of a Musky being hooked and lost in Muskegon Lake.
Are these fish cross-lake visitors from Wisconsin or wanderers who traversed six dams between Thornapple Lake and Grand Haven? Regardless of their origin, the mature muskellunge sits atop of the food chain, and when hooked, will provide plenty of excitement.
If you are one of the fortunate few who might one day experience the thrill of battling a muskellunge, the following tips are worthy of consideration:
* Have a camera ready and take both horizontal and vertical pictures.
* Be sure to carefully measure both the length and girth.
* Use caution when handling these fish by first wetting your hands, be very careful to not damage to their gills, and remember, those teeth are razor sharp.
* Above all, carefully release any musky as these fish are far too valuable a resource to be caught just once.
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Mike Hansen displays the large musky he caught during a recent salmon fishing trip on Lake Michigan.
Another large musky caught in southern Lake Michigan, this time along east shore (with photo of musky)
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07/28/10 By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel
Is southern Lake Michigan becoming a trophy musky spot?
Just when the buzz was subsiding over Ryan Doran's July 7 catch of a 48-inch musky on Government Pier in Milwaukee, news has surfaced of a second big musky landed this month in the lake's southern basin.
Mike Hansen of Grand Rapids, Mich. was having good success trolling for salmon July 10 off Grand Haven, Mich.
"Just the kind of late afternoon and evening we've come to expect, with steady action," said Hansen, 50.
He and an angling partner had gone "8 for 14" on chinook salmon, fishing in about 150 feet of water 3 miles offshore. The salmon ranged from 4 to 13 pounds.
Hansen was targeting an area with lots of bait on the graph, probably alewives, a favored forage for Lake Michigan predator fish.
About 5 p.m. another fish struck a green spoon trolled about 50 feet beneath the surface. Hansen grabbed the rod.
"It didn't fight like a salmon," said Hansen, an avid angler who fishes about 100 days a year, including about 15 on Lake Michigan. "It just stayed down. We figured it might be a lake trout."
Twenty minutes passed before the fish came into view. Hansen remembers seeing a big, square head and dark, mottled sides.
"My jaw kind of dropped," said Hansen. "I never expected to see a musky out there."
The fish was soon brought to net. Hansen pulled out a tape measure – the fish was 50 inches long – and a camera – two quick photos were snapped – and released the fish.
Hansen said he held the fish in the water until it swam away strongly.
Like the musky caught off Milwaukee, the source of Hansen's fish is a mystery. Michigan stocked muskies in Lake Macatawa, a water body connected to Lake Michigan near Grand Haven, in 1997.
A 50-inch musky could well be 13 years old. But not a single musky of any size has been caught in Lake Michigan near Grand Haven, according to Hansen.
The largest musky stocking effort in Lake Michigan has occured in Green Bay. There's an outside chance the Grand Haven fish swam from Green Bay.
Wisconsin DNR fisheries biologist Dave Rowe said the longest documented journey of a musky stocked in Green Bay was about 150 miles, to Garden Island in northeastern Lake Michigan.
At least until recently, that fish was considered an anomoly – only a handful of muskies stocked in Green Bay have been known to travel more than 12 miles, said Rowe.
In case you're wondering, Grand Haven is almost directly across the lake from Milwaukee.
So the second catch of a large musky in southern Lake Michigan in a month has thrilled anglers and created more questions than answers.
Not that anyone is complaining.
"It's the biggest fish I've ever caught, anywhere," said Hansen. "I hope another angler will be as lucky as I was. It's just great."
In case you're wondering why it took until July 28 for the story of a fish caught July 10 to be reported, here's why: Hansen was on a vacation – yes, fishing – and out of touch for most of the time since his catch of the musky. Although the photo and some information was circulated July 11, it couldn't be confirmed until this week.
My colleague Bob Kingsley, author of a fishing column for the Muskegon Chronicle, helped immensely with this report.
The photo below was provided by Hansen.
We first heard about Hansen's Grand Haven muskie during the Muskegon Salmon Shootout. At that time the rumors were limited to maybe true or false. You can understand how friend of a friend stories travel with radio and boat dock chatter. After we notified Kingsley, he had to make several phone calls over a week time to finally track down the source of the story. It then took a few days for Kingsley to get Muskegon Chronicle to print the story. Thanks Bob for helping us verify the Hansen muskie.
I am pleased how CPR has grown in respect. Even when salmon fishers were caught totally off guard they knew basically what to do with this big muskie. That tells me a future GLS will have local support.
the more amazing fact is that they were out 150 ft and caught this fish..
Not surprised they let it go, most salmon fisherman, including my dad and all his other charter friends along the coast have caught a lot of different species of fish while on charters.. big pike, catfish if you can believe it, walleye, and now some muskies.. Most of them or the people on the charters are more concerned with getting some salmon to eat rather then catching a killing a musky
The muskie CPR by a local salmon fisherman is good and I'm not surprised. The salmon fishermen read magazines, newspaper outdoor articles, and see the TV programs on muskie fishing just as we do. In all media the muskie CPR is promoted. I've already been assured by local charter captains that any future GLS program will have CPR support so they can enjoy the same success as LSC. That is good business practice. They also agree the big challenge will be getting the ordinary city folk educated that keep any fish caught as food. That is expected.
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