Release it or keep it
Don Pfeiffer
Posted 6/17/2006 6:35 AM (#196699)
Subject: Release it or keep it




Posts: 929


Location: Rhinelander.
With all the doubts about Spays fish I think this should be asked again. If you release a fish that you say is a new record (line class or world) there will always be many doubting thomases. So now you have a possable new world record in your net. Keep it or release it???? You know if you release it there will always be questions about it. I would not open myself up to that can of worms. For me its a kept fish without a doubt. So you know I've kept only several in my life and those would not have made it if released. I sure would not think ill of anyone for keeping a fish like that.

Pfeiff
muskihntr
Posted 6/17/2006 7:44 AM (#196705 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 2037


Location: lansing, il
line class record, release.............. state record(not wisc of course that would be a w.r.), release............. definite w.r. i used to say id thump it in a heart beat, but nw im not so sure. im probablly 50/50 on a w.r.
Derrys
Posted 6/17/2006 7:58 AM (#196707 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


I'd thump the WR in an instant. I think I'm entitled to take the life of one fish in my lifetime.
sworrall
Posted 6/17/2006 8:08 AM (#196709 - in reply to #196707)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 32926


Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin
If I was convinced it's a World Record, they would hear the thump in Atlanta. Kidding, have to keep the fish alive for the DNR/MNR, but the point is the same.
Donnie3737
Posted 6/17/2006 8:56 AM (#196721 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


Worrall,

I'm with you...

BUT, let me pose another question....

What if you could keep it alive, the DNR/MNR verified it's weight & length, and you could return it unhurt? There is a local place right in Vermilion Bay that has a certified scale, near Eagle. I have contemplated bringing her into to town in my livewell, weighing her, and seeing if i could return her unharmed....thoughts??

Donnie
fish4musky1
Posted 6/17/2006 9:24 AM (#196725 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Location: Northern Wisconsin
i'd put it back for sure
Beaver
Posted 6/17/2006 9:49 AM (#196728 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 4266


As long as I have a camera in the boat, I don't care how big it is, it's going back.
I don't need the BS or the scrutiny or any of the other crap that goes along with any big fish caught.
"Did you pinch the tail?".........Yeah, with Visegrips.
"Where did you girth it?".......Around my waist.
Guys take crap for pictures of small fish. I don't care how big it is, it deserves to live if it is in good condition.
I don't have the money or the room or the want for a mount or a replica.
I watched one guy in a tourney in Phelps walk in to a snowfence pen to grab the 52"er that he caught to win the tourney. He wanted some pictures of the fish, him and his partner and then was going to let her go. She was healthy as hell.
The two of them walked in with hip boots on, held up the fish, and then the guy who didn't catch the fish, grabbed a rock and beat her on the head. He told his partner...."That's a $5,000 fish. If you're not going to mount it, I am." That was the lowest thing that I ever saw.
It is my intention to never keep another muskie for the rest of my life, no matter how big.
Now that I have a digital video recorder, it and my other camera will be set on auto and I'll take a $hitload of pictures.
That will be enough for me.
Beav
muskiehunter2
Posted 6/17/2006 2:38 PM (#196748 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


release it .i heard this saying along time ago.god dont make em big enough to keep ! what for anyways ?unless the fish is going to die from the catch why harvest the fish? let em go. so next you see him or her again 2or 3 inchs longer .
Muskaluck
Posted 6/17/2006 3:19 PM (#196751 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


The stress a big fish like that would go through during the process, isn't worth the risk of letting it go to die!

THUMP!
Don Pfeiffer
Posted 6/17/2006 10:02 PM (#196786 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 929


Location: Rhinelander.
Beaver are you kidding about the guy thumping it with a rock, Holy crap!!!!!! I can't believe he'd do that to a fish he did not catch. I know what (who) would have gotten the next thump.

Pfeiff
esox50
Posted 6/17/2006 10:50 PM (#196796 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 2024


I am 99.99 percent catch-and-release.

The other .01 goes toward thumping the WR... yeah, like that will ever happen anyway.
Steve Van Lieshout
Posted 6/18/2006 7:32 AM (#196819 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 1916


Location: Greenfield, WI
I have caught may potential world record fish already in my life........they may have been 30-40 pounds premature, but they were all potential world records.
I keep a 6' tape in the boat. I would do a number of girth measurements besides the length and take a million and five pictures, including showing the tape. Beyond that, it would be released within minutes.
The DNR donation idea is great conceptionally, but the likelihood of being able to make contact with the appropriate parties in position to take posession in a quick enough timeframe is not likely.
I hope, God willing, to have this issue to deal with in my lifetime.

Edited by Steve Van Lieshout 6/18/2006 7:33 AM
muskyhunter63
Posted 6/18/2006 8:15 AM (#196820 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 706


Location: Richland Center, WI.
I would throw it back because I would not want someone trying to have it thrown out 55 years after the fact. I am not against keeping a musky even though I CPR all muskies I catch. It just would not be worth the hassle to keep a possible record fish.
Guest
Posted 6/18/2006 11:07 AM (#196835 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


I figure I've released about 16-17 WR's so far myself, at least using the "Louie standard". Honestly, if I caught a real 70 pound WR I would release it for sure. And then if I was lucky enough I'd even release a second WR. But if the musky gods granted yet a third WR to me, I guess I would have to keep it
JMAC
Posted 6/18/2006 8:14 PM (#196883 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 40


Location: NEW LENOX
I guess it all comes down to why you fish!!!!! Are you fishing because you enjoy it, or do you want to be famous ( infamous)???? Me I enjoy it, and wouldn't tell any one and bring back my kids and grandkids to enjoy the experience.
Don Pfeiffer
Posted 6/18/2006 9:18 PM (#196888 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 929


Location: Rhinelander.
Really surprised at how many said you'd release it. When I'm done putting together the figures on what it could be worth I wonder how many of you will change your mind. Greed changes us all in one way or another.

Pfeiff
muskyboy
Posted 6/19/2006 1:05 AM (#196910 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


70 pounds verified, thump, thump, thump

State record, maybe thump but probably just verified and released
Magruter
Posted 6/19/2006 7:05 AM (#196918 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 1316


Location: Madison, WI
Thump! Everything thing else goes back into the water. But this would be a fish of a 10 lifetimes... World record fish she'd be coming home with me...
brittlab
Posted 6/19/2006 7:20 AM (#196920 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 19


Location: North Central Iowa
I would like to think I would release it. I fish because I enjoy it, not to get fame and fortune. A picture and a little video would be enough for me.
Shep
Posted 6/19/2006 8:25 AM (#196933 - in reply to #196920)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 5874


If I was good enough and lucky enough to catch it, and I was confident it was the new world record, it gets thumped. Every other fish gets released. I think that is a fair trade off.

As for an attempt to get a new record overturned? Not likely in this day and age. There would be such a close scrutiny of that fish, and the process under which it gets weighed, and verified, I think there will be no doubt about it's validity. Besides, 55 years from now, I won't care if someone questions it!

Edited by Shep 6/19/2006 8:28 AM
Guest
Posted 6/19/2006 10:37 AM (#196961 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


Release. And I would not tell anyone either. I'm with Beav, too much of a hassel. I don't care how much it's worth. I don't want the lake I fish overrun with people. Don't know if there is a WR in there and don't care. Life is too crazy these days, I just want to keep my lake quiet.

Jeff
Jimfish
Posted 6/19/2006 11:43 AM (#196968 - in reply to #196888)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 106


Location: Des Plaines, IL
Don Pfeiffer - 6/18/2006 9:18 PM

Really surprised at how many said you'd release it. When I'm done putting together the figures on what it could be worth I wonder how many of you will change your mind. Greed changes us all in one way or another.

Pfeiff
I agree, Greed changes everything. So for me I will not revisit this post because I don't want to know what it could be worth. I would release it, let it spread by word of mouth, and let it always be questioned. Some times a little mystery is good.
MACK
Posted 6/19/2006 1:57 PM (#197002 - in reply to #196721)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 1086


Donnie3737 - 6/17/2006 8:56 AM


What if you could keep it alive, the DNR/MNR verified it's weight & length, and you could return it unhurt?
Donnie


That'll never happen. The DNR will want to (or they at least should...to cover their own butts and to make sure the scrutiny is deminished as much as humanly possible) x-ray the fish and/or open it up to make sure that it's not been filled full of any foreign objects or substance to help add additional weight to the fish. Heck...the DNR would probably want to do that even for a state record fish, let alone the potential world record fish.

It's all or nothing. You have to decide if you'd keep it to have it verified for a record or you just release it immediately to let it swim on. You can't have your cake and eat it too with this sort of subject.
MACK
Posted 6/19/2006 1:59 PM (#197003 - in reply to #196728)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 1086


Beaver - 6/17/2006 9:49 AM

then the guy who didn't catch the fish, grabbed a rock and beat her on the head. He told his partner...."That's a $5,000 fish. If you're not going to mount it, I am." That was the lowest thing that I ever saw.


Now...that guy wasn't too smart to do that. If you were going to keep a fish for a skin mount....why would you bash it on the head with a rock, potentially damaging the skull, for sure damaging any/all scales and the skin on the fishes head...making for a nice, nasty looking wound to have incorporated with your skin mount. Geeeeesh.
MACK
Posted 6/19/2006 2:07 PM (#197004 - in reply to #196888)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 1086


Don Pfeiffer - 6/18/2006 9:18 PM

Really surprised at how many said you'd release it. When I'm done putting together the figures on what it could be worth I wonder how many of you will change your mind. Greed changes us all in one way or another.

Pfeiff


You know what? Maybe those figures on what it could be worth...should be left untold and unposted.

You're right...greed does change things and it does change people and their decisions. If those numbers are tabulated, released and published publicly....then you'll have every Tom, Dick & Harry out there keeping that many more fish in "hopes" that it's the new world record...only to find out they've fallen short by 10 lbs or more...or have done something illegal to obtain a fish of world record weight, ie, payloading the fish with additional weight by the way of foriegn objects or keeping a fish out of season, etc, etc.

Somethings in life are best left untold...or at least left to the imagination.

I'm thinking, this is my opinion, that posting potential payout numbers of a World Record catch would not be a positive thing to the industry or the fisheries. Not only that...but then publishing those numbers with companies names attached to it, would put those companies in a tough spot to have to live up to the expectations if/when it should actually happen. They may say today, that they'd pay out "$X.xx" for the world record catch in the way of cash and/or endorsements...but then tomorrow, when it actually comes around time for them to pay up...will they? Will those companies even still be around? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not sure those companies would want to be on record for stating what they'd pay out to an angler when so many companies promote CPR. Why would a company that promotes CPR then put the incentive out there to keep a fish? Kind of hypocritical don't you think?



Edited by MACK 6/19/2006 2:13 PM
Shep
Posted 6/19/2006 2:14 PM (#197008 - in reply to #197004)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 5874


Only one flaw in your theory about every Tom, Dick, and Jane keeping that many more fish that come up 10 pounds short. I can't remember the last time I saw of a 59+ pounder being caught and released. So, even if every 60 pounder was bonked, we are not talking about any more than a single digit number in the past 10 years or more.

Edited by Shep 6/19/2006 2:14 PM
MACK
Posted 6/19/2006 2:17 PM (#197009 - in reply to #197008)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 1086


Shep - 6/19/2006 2:14 PM

Only one flaw in your theory about every Tom, Dick, and Jane keeping that many more fish that come up 10 pounds short. I can't remember the last time I saw of a 59+ pounder being caught and released. So, even if every 60 pounder was bonked, we are not talking about any more than a single digit number in the past 10 years or more.


True....very true.
Derrys
Posted 6/19/2006 4:39 PM (#197031 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


In talking with Larry Ramsell at the Muskies Inc. Spring Board meeting in April, he mentioned that the last fish caught that would have qualified for the new Record keeping program(60lbs) was 6 years ago. I could care less about the fame and fortune. If I caught a true World Record Muskie, I'd put it on my wall, and not get a replica or release it. Look at some of the people who frequent this website, and catch 50-400 fish a year. You really think you're not killing fish already? There is no way that all of those fish live. Would I thump the WR? You betcha, but other than that one single fish in my lifetime, the only other reason would be if a fish and my hand had a lure linking them together.
RUMBLEFISH
Posted 6/19/2006 4:40 PM (#197032 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 327


Everybody has the right to keep a fish , I'm not saying it's right or wrong , but that's how it is . I'd let her swim , if I thought I needed my name in the record book's I'd go to Florida and fish in Key-West with some guides I know , they can easily put you or me in the books . And you can keep it 'cause someone will probably beat it in 2 weeks anyway !!
Don Pfeiffer
Posted 6/19/2006 7:18 PM (#197042 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 929


Location: Rhinelander.
I will not publish company names or what they may say just add up all the numbers and a post a grand total. I'd never put my sponsors or other companies in a postion like that. .


Tomorrow night on boom hope there is a thump by me heard around the world!!!!!!

Pfeiff
Herb_b
Posted 6/20/2006 8:39 AM (#197122 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 829


Location: Maple Grove, MN
The odds of ever even seeing a true world record are very slim since very few fish ever grow to be that big. Good grief, its unlikely the world record was even close to that big.

Back in my running days when I was much younger, I was always going after a record of some kinds. School records, meet records, always a record of some sort. I ran races just to set records and for no other reason. I broke a number of records in those days and some still stand today. But after a while, I came to realize that setting a record didn't change the fact that what I really loved was running and competing. The records were actually a distraction.

I had a Muskie on last year that may have broken the MN state record. I had her played out and a foot from the net when she shook the hook. Had I caught her, she would have gone right back to continue swimming. What good would the state record have done me? But if the fish is still in the lake, I can try catch her again and that is the most valuable thing to me. I love fishing and could care less about any record - world or state.

You all do what you want, but I'm going to release every Muskie I catch no matter how big. And the larger the fish, the fewer people I will tell because the last thing I would ever want is to see a controversy about a fish I catch. Now that would be really silly.

The Yeti
Posted 6/20/2006 12:17 PM (#197191 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


Herb, im with you there, but not running...it was the guitar...how much better could i get? then i realized i just loved playing and quit worrying so much about whos' better than me, but what could i do to BE better, not GET better, ya know.

i told my mom recently when she asked "if you caught the state or WR what would you do"

"throw it back...take pics and video, get measurments and throw it back"
she asked why

my answer was something to this effect
"do you go out and 8'10" people just cuz they're oversized? Just because a fish is big and of freakish genetics like an 8'10" person, doesn't mean it deserves to be killed cuz of it's size"

i just couldn't justify it, but, like other people have said, i guess it's an angler's right cuz the law says so, but, morally, not for me..

and i couldn't live with the areas i fish being overrun by every avid musky dude in the area, every Joe Shinerdragger and more importantly, the chance of creating a tourism atmosphere just cuz muskies are being caught where i fish.


Good luck in the hunt guys, i'll be rooting for the releasers! lol

Edited by The Yeti 6/20/2006 12:20 PM
esoxaddict
Posted 6/20/2006 12:33 PM (#197200 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 8828


I wouldn't feel right killing it

It would be an ego killing, you know?

"Hey everybody look at me and the giant fish I caught!!"

Now I guess posting a picture on the internet is no different, and that's something I'll do if I ever fricken catch one again, but I couldn't justify taking that fish out of the ecosystem. A fish big enough to be a record, that lived that long? It deserves to continue living, and I wouldn't feel right whacking it. If it was on a lake with natural reproduction I wouldn't even consider it.

I will admit I'd probably be sitting there with it in the water thinking "come on, swim away. No, wait. DON'T swim away."

But in the end?

I don't care about records, or if anyone believes how big the fish was.

Let it go
Shep
Posted 6/20/2006 1:08 PM (#197204 - in reply to #197200)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 5874


As mentioned, everyone will do what they think is right. I'd bonk it, you would want to see it swim away. Please realize that a fish this size is at, or very near the end of it's lifespan, and is more than likely done as a spawner, should it be caught where natural reproduction occurs. The chances of it growing larger, and then being caught again, are slim and none.

And, yes, maybe it's an ego thing. Part of the reason I do tournaments is ego, but the main reason is for the money. I feel no shame in saying that.
esoxaddict
Posted 6/20/2006 1:36 PM (#197210 - in reply to #197204)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 8828


I wouldn't blame anyone for keeping it, that's for sure. Whether or not it would live another year, reproduce again, or be crayfish food the next day, who knows. I don't see it as right or wrong -- it's just a personal choice. I whacked a fish for a skin mount a long time ago, and when I went back to fish that spot again (I had been chasing this fish for a few weeks) it just seemed... Empty. I thought about that fish, and how exciting it was seeing it, trying to catch it, how exciting it was when it swam out from under the boat and "bit and spit" before I had a chance to react...

I thought about the fact that when I took it to the taxidermist in a garbage bag that it was still alive (too late at that point) and I just felt awful -- I didn't need to kill that fish. I still have the mount, and its still a cool thing to have, but even today I wish I had let the fish go.

I guess what I'm trying to say is for me it was way more exciting having it in the water and knowing it was there than it was having it on my wall.
happy hooker
Posted 6/20/2006 2:44 PM (#197224 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


Id hit that thing so hard they'd here it from Kentucky to Kenora,,,Especially if it was here in my home state of Minn,,,what a nice tribute to the Minn DNR and their efforts in a muskie program that isnt all that old,,,Might help get alot more lakes here stocked too when people see what can be produced,,a world record would be at least 20yrs old,,,that means its had at least 15 seasons to spread its genes and eggs to the resource
nwick
Posted 6/22/2006 8:22 PM (#197570 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 59


Location: WI
I think it would be unfair to the sport NOT to thump a world record. I want to know what the largest musky in the world is (was)even if I don't catch it. Anyone else think so?
RiverMan
Posted 6/22/2006 9:33 PM (#197584 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 1504


Location: Oregon
World or state record........going home. Anything else goes back.

Jed V.
ToddM
Posted 6/24/2006 9:26 PM (#197852 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it





Posts: 20248


Location: oswego, il
I would release it, I don't fish for that kind of glory anyway but if I did keep it, I would only submit it to the IFGA and the new record keeping agency and would completely snub the FWFHoF.
J-Bird
Posted 6/25/2006 1:03 AM (#197880 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 53


I would want to keep it but my heart would make me release it. I would have as much video of the fish as I could and about 20 pictures before I set her free!
Michael Courtney
Posted 6/25/2006 10:55 AM (#197902 - in reply to #197880)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


I can't really blame anyone for putting a nice fish or two in their wall.

There's more than length or weight that might motivate someone to put a particular fish on the wall.

Maybe they caught the fish on their birthday, or maybe there is a pattern on the side that is particularly appealing, or they caught it on their favorite lure, or in their favorite fishing spot. Maybe the fish for the wall just gave a little better fight.

Michael Courtney
Guest
Posted 6/25/2006 11:45 AM (#197911 - in reply to #197902)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it


If it was indeed a true world record. I would feel bad for doing it but I would keep it. Not only for histories sake but also to set the new standard of the record books so it may prevent others from keeping lesser fish.
A undeniable fish needs to be set!!!
Yes, it will be a headache! Yes, I would do it!
guts
Posted 6/25/2006 11:53 AM (#197912 - in reply to #196699)
Subject: RE: Release it or keep it




Posts: 556


i would release the fish but i would take pics of me mesuring it the lenght and the girth thats what we always do with a big fish and if that fish has lived 2 grow that big it has the right to live longer