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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | I have always heard that male muskies will not get to trophy proportions, and that a fish over 40" is a big fish. Today I now believe otherwise. The 47.5" fish I caught this past weekend had a tag on it, and I reported the number to the DNR. They got back to me today with the info on the fish that it was: Tagged in 1991 and had a length of 36.7", and was a Male! It is also interesting to note that I caught a fish out of the same lake 2 years ago with a tag, and that fish was also a male tagged in 1991. Unlike this last fish that fish at the time I caught it was 41", and was tagged at a length of 38 and some odd decimal.
What are the thoughts of others on male muskies growing to trophy potential?
Just thought this might be interesting to others. |
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Posts: 1189
Location: Bagley,MN 56621 | very cool info!!
Very different growth rates as well.
Your bigger one is 10.8 inches in 12 years= .9"/year
the other one is only .33"/year
dunno what the avg rates are, but would think females to be more than males.
some time ago, I thought I remember a thread about the biggest male musky, dont remember what came of it. |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | Bob Brunner, from St. Clair caught what I believe is the largest male I have ever heard of.
I believe it was in the double nickle range. 55 inches.
Mike Hulbert
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Travis,
I am very curious as to the girth on that big male. Was it visibly thinner than what you would expect a late season female to be? Just trying to use some of your information to make sense of my own observations on 40+ inch males. |
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Posts: 743
| 47.5" male...must have been one of the top hardest fighting fish you have ever caught. i've got males up to 43", and boy,the really pack a an extra punch over most females.
Travis, did that big boy pull your boat around a bit? i'd imagine it did. anywho, sweet fish and good info. look at your pic again to see if the anus is in the pic and you can sex it yourself. the "key hole" shape would make it a male...anywho, way to end the year on a good note.
tomcat |
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | If I understand it right (at least with Pike) when spawning the male and female lie beside eachother eye to eye. The shorter male's tail can hit and tap the females belly to help keep the eggs comming out. Also if he was the same length the milt would be washed away from their tails action. This is genetically, spawning-wise, why the male is shorter.
Wouldn't the same be true for Musky, being a very close relative?
If that is the case where does that 55 inch male find a female to spawn with? |
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Posts: 5874
| Kinda like the old saying with the tall girl(Amazon) and the shorter guy(GregM).
"When you're nose to nose, your toes are in it, and when you're toes to toes, your nose is in it." |
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| I just caught a 45 inch 25 pound male last weekend that was the meanest musky I have ever encountered for its size. Man what a fight! I can only imagine what a 50 pound male would do! |
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Posts: 1430
Location: Eastern Ontario | 45 inch males are very common around here I ( me and my clients and friends ) get over 1/2 dozen of them every year. I also have seen a couple of 47 inchers that made me believe I was into a mid 50 inch females and made me shake my head once I seen how small ( relatively to the fight ) the fish was. The biggest I know of is a 50 and 52 inch male that I caught in 96 and my client released in 2000. Now the fish was a strong healty 50 x 23 when I C&R'ed it in June of 96 but had a mere 20 inch girth but 52 inches long when caught in Oct 2000. I believe the fish was very old and on it's way out by then. I also took some scale samples for the DNA study now going on in Ontario and the scales were huge as compared to the 52 x 24 ( 38 pound female ) we caught the same afternoon. Follow the link bellow to see the pictures, it was so exiting to recapture a beast so many years later. http://www.trophymuskiecharters.com/Catchandrelease.htm |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | A guy I know caught a male over 50"'s on LOTW with Billy Sandy a few years ago, I want to say it was either 52" or 54"'s. |
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Posts: 1939
Location: Black Creek, WI | Interesting comments so far.
I'm not sure if a male fights harder or more aggressively than a female... but then again... I never attempt to determine the sex of the fish I catch.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that the old saying that "Females are bigger than males" has something to do with the "extra" weight or girth they may obtain due to the EGGS they are carrying in late fall. But... if a male has access to good forage and proper living environment... they should be able to put on some body mass too. Whether a female can achieve longer lengths than a male may have something to do with a longer life expectancy???
There has to be some biological proof to verify if this belief is indeed fact. There is no doubt males can grow big (as proven by many testimonials so far) but is there any scientific evidence to support that "on average" females are larger than males???
Are there any biology gurus out there willing to take a stab at this one??
jlong |
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Posts: 59
Location: WI | How do you tell a male from female? Muskies I mean |
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Posts: 346
| How many people actually to a sex check on each big fish they catch? How many pigs go back into the water that are actually males? With the previous testimonials, I'm thinking if we payed more attention to the sex of the bigger fish we catch, I believe we would be surprised at the amount of males in the 45"+ range.
MJB |
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | To tell male skis from females is pretty simple. The genital area will be pear shaped. The wide end towards the tail is a female. The narrow end towards tail is male. When you are reviving a fish in the water, flip it over and take a look!!! |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | I agree with MJB. I for one don't check the sex of the fish I catch because it's the last thing on my mind.
Norm, As far as the girth of bigger males compared to females that size I couldn't help you because of the fact of not checking the sex of the fish. It also throws it way out of wack fishing the lake I caught this fish on because the fish have a bigger girth in the lake than most others. Gotta love the cisco munchers!
An explanation on determining sex can be found on the Muskies101.com site (is it ok to mention this for learning use for others?) with some good pictures. The male has a "keyhole" anal pore where as the female is more "pearlike" shaped.
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Posts: 1430
Location: Eastern Ontario | Jason and others. I have always looked at the sex of fish ever since I started to report my catches to Muskies Canada for the MNR it is in the questionaire. Now I am at the point where I can predict a male before it's even checked by first the fight is always better then a female of same size as well as males ( at least around here ) are built more stocky. I mean they look square as the girth is the same in all the way and not round like fall females. Here is a few examples attached bellow.
(22-9-47x22.5SteveZz.JPG)
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 2-7-45x21markZz.JPG (50KB - 199 downloads)
22-9-47x22.5SteveZz.JPG (51KB - 199 downloads)
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