|
|
Posts: 724
Location: Southern W.Va. | A VERY large , decomposed musky was found on Stonewall Jackson Lake in W.Va.
It was reported to be almost 10" across the inside of it's mouth. I've seen the pictures and the teeth seem to be about 1" long and the head is very wide.
How much could a fish of this size weigh? Have picture but have no way to post it, can send it to anyone who cares to post it if they want, just send me address.
Mauser |
|
| |
|
| One thing for sure, it was big but Jaw size isn't a good relative indicator to length. |
|
| |
|
| Can you show us an example of an extremely long muskie with a small head? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32803
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I bet I can show you images of fish that are big, but not huge, with really big noggins. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | use the search function ... you'll find a 61" musky |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1270
| I know it's not a musky but I caught a 43" northern a couple years ago with a MONSTER head that only wieghed 12lbs. |
|
| |
|
| I'll bet you can too. This is because the head of the fish is closer to the camera than the rest of it. Why did you avoid my original question? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32803
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I've caught fish and seen many caught with very large heads that were not really exceptional specimens length or weight wise, and it has nothing to do with the camera angle. I've also seen VERY large fish with jaws much smaller than the reported size of this one, and that has nothing to do with the camera angle, either. I'm sure that is what was meant by the post saying jaw measure is not a solid indication of overall size or weight.
|
|
| |
|
| The head size of a muskie is going to APPEAR much larger on a skinny muskie of the same length as a fat one. This is the other reason why people are deceived into thinking some muskies have larger heads than others. Pike and hybrids also have larger heads than purebred muskies of the same length.
Don't even try to tell me you have personally seen an extremely long muskie with a small head unless you are able to furnish some sort of proof.
Jaw length is a very good indicator of the overall length of a muskie and you can take that to the bank. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32803
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | The discussion was about the WIDTH of the jaw, not length. And I said nothing of how a fish 'appears', I'm talking measure, not appearance.
I caught a 40# class fish in 2003 with a narrow jaw for the length of the fish, probably under 5". I believe my 1980 52" mount from Oneida County has about a 5.5" wide jaw; I measured it when this came up once but am not home now to re-measure. I'm not saying the above mentioned jaw means the fish is smaller that one might assume or larger, I'm saying that exceptional length and potential weight of that or any fish shouldn't be assumed by the 'width' of the jaw.
Please define 'extremely long'. How long would you assume (dangerous word...) the above fish with a 10" wide jaw to be?
|
|
| |
|
| The maximum width of the jaw spread is determined by the length of the jaw bones. The width of the jaws depends upon how how far the fish opens it's mouth up to it's maximum.
Naturally you cannot determine the weight of of fish from the size of the jaws but you can determine the total length very closely.
To determine the length of the fish from the jaws that were 10" wide you would have to know if this measurement was taken with the mouth in the maximum wide open position. If the jaws were 10" wide with the mouth closed this fish would be unbelievably long. As you can see we would need more information than what we have in order to determine the length of this fish. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32803
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | My point exactly. And, since the fish was decomposing, the jaw might have been abnormally 'spread' more than it should be. |
|
| |
|
| Very nice Mr. Worral, cant say it much better. "Extremely long" in the musky world..well I don't think there's a limit! |
|
| |
|
| The second post said jaw "size" is not a good indicator of length and this is not true. The length of the jaw bones are a very good indicator of the total length of the fish. Jaw width can vary as you said especially if the jaw bones are no longer attached to the head. The lower jaw bones are hinged at the tip and can be spread much further than normal in this case. |
|
| |
