I heard that some guy recently speared 3 muskies in a southwestern MI lake. The tale told is that the biggest fish may exceed the recently-new state record. I was unable to get the spearer's name or the lake name, either. The guy who told me is very credible, he's caught his share of big fish and said he saw an actual picture of the big musky.
Anybody else hear about this? I'm going to call the DNR tomorrow to inquire.
Lots of muskies have been speared so far this year…some pushing the 40 lb mark, but nothing from the south part of the state as far as I know. I'd be impressed if the DNR knew more than a local baitshop, but always worth checking! Gun has given up some dandy fish in the past 5 years or so, but certainly no 50 lbers…
I was at Right Way Rental in portage on Friday picking up some pike bait and got to talking with the guy working there. He told me they had 3 muskies brought in that had been speared out of Austin, and he claimed the biggest was 51in. and he weighed it at 32lbs. The other was 48" and he didn't say how big the third was.
"Smada962" said:
I was at Right Way Rental in portage on Friday picking up some pike bait and got to talking with the guy working there. He told me they had 3 muskies brought in that had been speared out of Austin, and he claimed the biggest was 51in. and he weighed it at 32lbs. The other was 48" and he didn't say how big the third was.
Ouch… that hurts, don't want to hear that.
Ouch… that hurts, don't want to hear that.
Yup, that pretty much ruined my Friday night just hearing that. The guy claimed he personally weighed the 32lber himself so unless he is completely full of sh#$, its probably pretty legit unfortunately.
I cant get mad at the people who spear them, it is their legal right to do so, and most dont know any better. I just instead direct my frustration at the DNR for allowing those people to spear them, especially in a lake that is no longer being stocked and with no natural reproduction (as far as we know) whose musky population is slowly but surely going to be eliminated.
Yep, well there's some truth to the rumors, then. I don't have a problem with people spearing fish, even muskies. But I dislike to hear about any big female fish taken from whatever waters regardless of the methods used to take the fish. I get a little excited when I hear of big females taken from small waters, though. I believe in CPR to 1) ensure desireable genetics and 2) to allow myself or others the opportunity to boat a real trophy.
Check it out – we CPR nuts will increasingly move from "boat and hook" to "swim and look". This coming spring I'll be selling off some muskie gear to buy myself some high quality diving stuff: mask, snorkle, fins, and a camera for underwater photos. My goal is to take pictures of a fish so big that she'll stalk me underwater; a follow to the facemask. (This should be a new topic, maybe.)
"Smada962" said:
especially in a lake that is no longer being stocked and with no natural reproduction (as far as we know) whose musky population is slowly but surely going to be eliminated.
That's what really bums me out… If I knew more fish were going into the lake I wouldn't be worried, but someday I will really miss fishing muskies out there.
"Scott Williams" said:
[quote="Smada962"]especially in a lake that is no longer being stocked and with no natural reproduction (as far as we know) whose musky population is slowly but surely going to be eliminated.
That's what really bums me out… If I knew more fish were going into the lake I wouldn't be worried, but someday I will really miss fishing muskies out there.
Scott I think we need to start begging for a few Muskie plants into Austin, they certainly do well out there…
"swanezy" said:
my question is even if these guys are spearing, most of them could prob give a crap if they are regulation muskies or not, and how can they tell the size of the fish before they spear it anyway? I know most of us that have seen them can judge, but some random foo can't pick out sizes
I hear ya but that 51"er was a tank..and the lake is shallow.
If I wernt such a nice guy I would wish that a fish would eat that guys shitzu 😀
"swanezy" said:
yea i agree with the big fish, but what about the smaller sized fish, which im sure occurs often enough, or mistaken for a large pike
Both by accident and intentionally, that sort of thing happens more frequently than we probably would guess. We've found speared 3 footers on the bottom in the spring, I've heard about many that were mistaken for pike, and this year I caught a 34"er that somehow survived being impaled by 3 tines! Too bad all the 'shake-offs' aren't so lucky.
"swanezy" said:
yea i agree with the big fish, but what about the smaller sized fish, which im sure occurs often enough, or mistaken for a large pike
That has always been one of my biggest beefs with musky speraing also. If 3 "legal" sized fish were speared, then how many sub-legals do you think get speared? Probably way more than I want to even think about. With the lack of enforcement what is to stop these yahoos from spearing any fish the swims through that hole? I'm sure its the same as some of the low-life deer poachers I know of that dont blink an eye to not tagging a deer because they know there is little to no chance of ever being caught.
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