Monster Mille Lacs Muskie?

Did someone catch a monster gator on Mille Lacs last weekend in the snow storm?
My buddy said someone posted one on facebook but I don’t seem to have face book.:???:

Wouldn’t surprise me. Seems like there’s a few absolute giants caught every November during the cisco spawn.

Ben Knutson caught this 55.25”x28.5”

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Yikes. I can never get those images out of my head when it’s hot out and I need to jump in to cool off.

You will be fine Rip, just make sure to take your ankle bracelet and your toe rings off.

He said that the fish was 55.25″ x 28.5″ and estimated at 56 pounds. What makes it scarier is that there’s no doubt even bigger ones in the pond

I do it’s my flashy toe nail polish that I worry about.

Freakin beautiful fish!

Gander,
Any chance you have the write up you could post?

Snowstorm Mega Muskie:

Last spot, first cast, one pull into the retrieve… “GOT HER!”

Mille Lacs lake in late fall can be brutal to the best of muskie fishermen… I had spent the last two weeks guiding on the lake with no success. The week prior we were moving fish almost every day but nothing would eat. Then, this week we didn’t move a single fish until I made that one cast; right time, right place.

My client T and I just finished up fishing a spot about 30 minutes before sunset. One reel broken, two reels on the verge of breaking, everything was freezing up and making it very difficult for us to cast. I had one more spot in mind for sunset and that meant we had to drive across the lake, about a 15-minute boat ride. With whiteout conditions, I strapped on the snowboard googles and we ripped across the lake. We pulled up to the spot and I put the boat into position. I knew the rod and reel I was using all day was frozen up from the drive over so I quickly grabbed out a fresh Thorne Bros 10’ Predator XH and Tranx combo, strapped on my Musky Innovations pounder bulldawg, and made a cast.

My bait hit the water, I cranked down a couple of times and made one pull with the bait… “GOT HER!”, I yelled. I could feel the big slow-motion head shakes and I knew it was a good one. She charged the boat and made one dive towards the back of the motor, just like big fish tend to do. I horsed her up to the surface and we got her in the net. High fives and fist bumps ensued! A couple of quick pics and we released her back to the water.

She measured: 55.25” x 28.5” (estimated 56lbs)

Thank you.
Gets me pumped!

Ripjiggen wrote:

I do it’s my flashy toe nail polish that I worry about.

Don’t worry, they say anything flashy acts as a deterrent. To be extra on the safe side, I’d recommend adding something like dog tags to some kind of ankle bracelet before your dip

Holy chit lol.

The mille lacs behemoths never disappoint do they?

Wow! Super tanker!

never muskie fished but every year I wait for someone to post a late fall ski from mille lacs. state record will come from there no doubt as well as the brown bass record possibly. a way cool lake that has had it’s ups and downs but has it’s mystique. great write up Ben and Tswoboda!

That is a monster fish, Nice picture of her! thanks for sharing it

casting out there for weeks in the late fall is a whole different level of dedication. congrats on the monster!

eyeguy507 wrote:

state record will come from there no doubt

it already has, multiple times. they just get released.

heck, the weight estimates on this one put if over the current 54lb record which came from Winnie.

and the MN DNR did a nice job when they created a catch-and-release length record program to allow for this. the current record by length is 57.25″ tied by two fish out of Vermilion.

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/staterecords.html

Michael C. Winther wrote:

and the MN DNR did a nice job when they created a catch-and-release length record program to allow for this. the current record by length is 57.25″ tied by two fish out of Vermilion.

I like this too, but I wish they would create it for every state record. Not just the larger fish.

I target tiger muskies several times/season and there is currently no catch and release state record category for that species. They have one for pure strain muskie and northern pike, but no hybrid? Doesn’t make a whole lotta sense.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Michael C. Winther wrote:</div>
and the MN DNR did a nice job when they created a catch-and-release length record program to allow for this. the current record by length is 57.25″ tied by two fish out of Vermilion.

I like this too, but I wish they would create it for every state record. Not just the larger fish.

I target tiger <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>muskies several times/season and there is currently no catch and release state record category for that species. They have one for pure strain <em class=”ido-tag-em”>muskie and northern pike, but no hybrid? Doesn’t make a whole lotta sense.

That’s what MN-Fish is for.

gimruis wrote:

I target tiger several times/season and there is currently no catch and release state record category for that species. They have one for pure strain <em class=”ido-tag-em”>muskie and northern pike, but no hybrid? Doesn’t make a whole lotta sense.

that WOULD be nice.
and i’m sure they considered it, but with released fish there’s not sure way to confirm the type so it’d be a nightmare of arguments over whether it was actually a hybrid or a strongly patterned pure. anytime someone posts a picture with “is this a tiger?” online it circles around the drain pretty quickly.

if you ever get one over the 51″ x 22″ range (35lbs), we’ll all agree that you’re the new c-n-r record holder.

except of course, for this guy…who would have smashed the state record and possibly threatened the world if it had been legal to keep. (wasn’t long enough)
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/2312071-possible-record-tiger-muskie-back-water-near-duluth

I remember that fish from the St Louis River.

gimruis wrote:

I remember that fish from the St Louis River.

Tigers are probably the most beautiful fish in the water at least in these parts. That fish was absolutely unreal.

Replying to caltainmusky-

Yea that thing was just STUPID fat. Would be cool if it was actually feeding on smaller Lakers/salmon in the big lake…

LabDaddy1 wrote:

Yea that thing was just STUPID fat. Would be cool if it was actually feeding on smaller Lakers/salmon in the big lake…

They definitely roam out into the big lake.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/1723491-Muskies-on-the-move-Researchers-find-that-St.-Louis-River-fish-like-to-travel

What a fish. Man I am kicking myself, this is the first year in about 18 years I didn’t go musky hunting. Life just got in the way. I still have a little time but don’t think I will get out. Mabey if I shared this pic I can find some fool willing to go with me.

***NEW STATE RECORD CAUGHT THIS WEEKEND!!!***

(From BookFace)

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.

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Looks like I’m a day late & dollar short. Already posted on another thread. Still a BEAST!