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Uncertified world record muskie boated and released in Mille Lacs Lake by DNR biologists

Jun 30, 2019 07:51AM ● By Editor
Mille Lacs Band DNR Aquaculture Biologist Keith Wiggins-Kegg holds a potential record-setting muskie caught during recent electrofishing activities on the lake. Photo courtesy of the Mille Lacs Band DNR


From the Grand Forks Herald - June 30, 2019

Mille Lacs Band DNR biologists say they may have boated a world-record muskie during electrofishing activity this past spring on Mille Lacs Lake. 

While engaged in spring electrofishing activities for walleye, DNR Aquaculture Biologist Keith Wiggins-Kegg and an electroshocking team found a giant muskie was also within the shockwaves. 

“We were not looking for muskie,” said Wiggins-Kegg in a news release. “That wasn’t our objective.” 

Wiggins-Kegg said he saw the giant fish surface and he and the team immediately boated it. A length measurement was taken and they quickly snapped a couple of photos before gently releasing the muskie. The team watched as the muskie swam away safely. The muskie measured 61-1/2 inches. The world record for a hooked muskie is 60-1/4 inches caught in Hayward, Wis., in 1949. The state record for muskie is 56-7/8 inches caught on Pelican Lake in 2016. The state record for muskie using a fly rod measured 57 inches, caught on Mille Lacs Lake in 2015.

The team knew this fish was unusually large — even for a muskie. The team’s main objective was to release what they are speculating as a female, back to the water so she could live out her life cycle. 

“We didn’t have a large enough scale on board to weigh that big of a fish,” said Carl Klimah, Mille Lacs Band DNR fisheries manager, in a news release. “A fish like this can weigh between 55-75 pounds, but we will never know for sure. We can say that it was huge fish and hope that someone catches it again so we know.”

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe DNR Aquaculture Biologist Keith Wiggins-Kegg holds a potential record-setting muskie caught during recent electrofishing activities on the lake Courtesy of the Mille Lacs Band DNR
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe DNR Aquaculture Biologist Keith Wiggins-Kegg holds a potential record-setting muskie caught during recent electrofishing activities on the lake. Photo courtesy of the Mille Lacs Band DNR

To read the original article and read related outdoors reporting, follow this link to the Grand Forks Herald website.  
https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/outdoors/2735263-Uncertified-world-record-muskie-boated-and-...
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