|
|
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.
 |
|
| |
|
| 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
|
|
| |
|
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 |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
| 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 |
|
| |
|
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? |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | World or state record........going home. Anything else goes back.
Jed V. |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
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! |
|
| |
|
| 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 |
|
| |
|
| 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! |
|
| |
|
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 |
|
| |
