For the second yr in a row, Minnesota’s Lake Mille Lacs has produced a state-record muskie. Eric Bakke, of Princeton, Minnesota, caught the 58.25-inch muskie again in June, and the fish was licensed yesterday as a catch-and-release file by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The earlier catch-and-release file was a tie between two 57.25-inch muskies that have been caught in 2019 and 2021, based on the DNR.
Bakke was fishing Mille Lacs with two buddies on June 11 when he caught the monster muskie. They have been trolling a footlong lure that Bakke known as a Supernatural Big Bait in a social media submit. He additionally thanked his mates Troy Zuelke and Scott Ashby for being there to web the fish and share the once-in-a-lifetime expertise.
“This 56” x 24” Mille Lacs large got here to the web just a few weeks in the past to brighten our day,” Bakke wrote on Facebook later that day. “I was so lucky to be able to share the moment with a couple great buddies.”
After getting the fish within the boat, the three anglers have been capable of measure, {photograph}, and launch it in beneath a minute. This was essential for Bakke, who stated he believes that the important thing to a wholesome muskie fishery is to “let them go, let them grow.”
“In order to catch more and bigger fish you have to put them back,” Bakke informed the DNR. “This record should and will be broken in the next year or two if we all make the choice to keep all those big fish alive and swimming for the next person to experience and catch a fish of their lifetime. I’d like to say thank you to all of the people who have caught that fish over the past 20-plus years, took care of her and put her back. She is still out there for all of you to go try to catch again.”
The Longest, however not the Biggest Muskie in State History
To make clear the kind of file that Bakke now holds, his Mille Lacs fish is the longest muskie in state historical past, however it’s not the biggest. Minnesota maintains a “certified weight records” e book for all fish species, together with a “catch-and-release” file e book for muskie, pike, sturgeon, and flathead catfish. Anglers pursuing a weight file are required by the DNR to reap the fish and weigh it on a licensed scale, whereas the company accepts photograph submissions for catch-and-release data, that are based mostly totally on the size of the fish.
The Minnesota Muskie Record
Minnesota’s licensed state-record muskie was caught from Lake Mille Lacs final November by angler Nolan Sprengeler. His state-record catch measured half an inch shorter than Bakke’s fish, however it was 5 inches girthier and far heavier. Weighing 55 kilos, 14.8 ounces, Sprengler’s muskie was large enough to lastly exchange the earlier state-record muskie, which was caught on Lake Winnibigoshish approach again in 1957. Although we’ll by no means know the true weight of Bakke’s fish, plugging its size and girth into the formulation for esox estimates comes out to roughly 42 kilos.
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When Outdoor Life caught up with Sprengeler final fall, he stated he was really going after the state catch-and-release file when he caught his trophy muskie. The fish was hooked too deep to outlive the discharge, nevertheless, and the angler determined that the easiest way to recollect and respect the muskie was to reap the fish and get it licensed.