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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | It seems that a lot of ppl on the Boards here and other sites are seeing a lot more, and talking a lot more about 55"+ muskies.........So is a 50" fish no longer considered
"The Trophy Standard" ?
Jerome |
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Location: Antioch IL | http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=62... |
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Location: New Hope MN | I think G-Rome has been talking to the bass guys too much... they always seem to catch the +55" giants, and never have a camera when they do it  |
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| I still think 50 is a trophy fish and hard to catch/land, but mid 50's and above are a whole different animal when hooked. The power is unreal, they are a different beast. BR |
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Location: Contrarian Island | 50s are still Trophys for sure but a 50" is not nearly as hard to catch as it was before lakes like Vermilion, ML, LOTW, GB/St Claire and others came into their prime... imo the new "fish of a lifetime" standard is 55+. 50s are still a trophy, but not quite as uncommon as they were pre 2000s....
Edited by BNelson 9/13/2013 10:09 AM
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Posts: 117
| Depends where you live, where you fish. Some areas a 50 incher is still a fish of a life time.....BUT, some lakes people dont even blink until it hits 54"+ |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | It could be, for some people in some locations. For me, 50 is still "it". |
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Posts: 415
| Absolutely about location, its all relative. |
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Posts: 2026
| 54 is the new 50. |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | I hear ppl saying "Ahh, it was only a 50 incher..... like it's not a big deal anymore.
I think a 50" muskie is still a trophy, .... but having hooked a few mid 50" fish the last few yrs, I can say it IS a different fight and a STRONGER animal compaired to a 50" fish.....
Perhaps this Fall !
Jerome |
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | I think it's all about where you fish. if you fish a lake or lakes that don't have the capability to produce a 50"+ fish, then 50" is still your target. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | I have been chasing muskies for only 12 years.I consider myself a newbie.I have only put 1 50" fish in the net. that was in 06 . I had a replica done.I won't get another replica till I get a 55 |
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Posts: 1360
Location: Lake "y" cause lake"x" got over fished | Ja Rule - 9/13/2013 10:31 AM
Absolutely about location, its all relative.
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EXACTLY! |
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Posts: 95
| BenR and BNelson I agree with both of you. It seems like they've moved up... but not that a "55+" is the NEW 50" mark. I think 54" muskie is pretty awesome!! 55+" is my next goal!!
I've lost some HUGE fish... and the power of fish over 55" compared to the likes of over 60" is even MORE impressive. NOTHING you can do it seems with fish of legendary calibre. |
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| I think it is relative to the water fished. 50 is not a trophy on Mille lacs. A trophy to me is a fish that is in the top 5-10% on the water being fished. In terms of musky fishing overall, then yes 55 is the new 50. |
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Posts: 667
Location: Roscoe IL | 45 is the new 50 after the beating I took this summer. Hope the luck changes in October... |
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| "50 is not a trophy on Mille Lacs" Really? I fish and guide primarily in MN. A good year is 100 to 150 muskies in the boat. Generally 10-20 of those are over 50. Thats pretty close to 10% fishing mostly stocked waters. I have never personally caught a 55. Maybe one of the guys more versed in the science can provide some insight, but I bet thats pretty close to the average % of the population capable of reaching 50". If you're fishing for a 55", I'd guess it's more like 1%. Unless your name is Hamernick, a 50" is a trophy on Mille Lacs or anywhere else! Folks are just getting better at managing and catching them! |
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Posts: 3508
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
In my humble opinion a 55" becomes the new trophy standard when a 50" has been caught. I've been working on breaking 50 for 33 years and finally did it this summer with a 51" x 21" beauty and a 50" x 19.5". The 51 will be getting a replica. My new personal goal is to break that mark, but another replica will only happen if it goes 55" or over.
I think Jerome is right...a fish that is over 50 is a whole different animal as it seems that many fish exceeding the 50" mark seem to gain not so much in length, but more in girth.
Steve
Edited by VMS 9/13/2013 12:26 PM
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Posts: 1220
| While I do travel a bit to fish other areas, I am a Pewaukee Lake guy week in and week out. According to records I can not quote (??) a lot of folks say Pewaukee is the most musky fished lake in Wisconsin and that year after year it gives up the highest number of muskies caught in the state. Now, there are all sorts of guys in pontoon boats who tell me how many 60 inch (and above) they know about...but I will stake my rep on the statement that there are about 3-5 fifties caught there per YEAR! Therefore, in my my little world, fifty is like a hundred! |
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Posts: 20253
Location: oswego, il | Wont be long before there are guys pulling their baits away from a 50. |
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| The question is what is a trophy. To me the top 5-10 percent are the target for big fish. The numbers 10-20 percent over 50 on 100-150 fish are good. I have always thought of a personal trophy to be a fish of a lifetime though and to the old time musky fishermen 50 was that. Those with a lot of time on the water on the right lakes realize that catching a 50 is awesome, but not a fish of a lifetime anymore. Pre-2000 50s were relatively rare especially on the stocked waters of Minnesota. I may have been misunderstood. My apologies. So on Mille lacs a 55 I would consider a trophy. On the tiger cat flowage a 40 is probably a trophy. With the mobility of my fishing and the ability for many people to drive to GB, Mille Lacs, Lac Suel, Georgan Bay, St Claire, and the Larry the overall target could be said to be a 55?? At least for the traveling crowd. |
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Posts: 8834
| Hard to put a number on it. I'd say the mark of a trophy is when there are fewer than ten fish of that size known to have come out of that area in the last few seasons. Some places, that would be 55". In a lot of others, that might be 47".
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Posts: 1245
Location: Madtown, WI | Top H2O - 9/13/2013 10:41 AM
I hear ppl saying "Ahh, it was only a 50 incher..... like it's not a big deal anymore.
I think a 50" muskie is still a trophy, .... but having hooked a few mid 50" fish the last few yrs, I can say it IS a different fight and a STRONGER animal compaired to a 50" fish.....
Perhaps this Fall !
Jerome
Man if a 50 EVER gets to not be a big deal to anyone, they should stop fishing. I don't care if you catch 2 of them in your life time or 2 a week, it is still a special fish and when that wears off, I feel sorry for you.
We may have different levels of the definition of "special fish" but it should be held in high esteem. I am chasing a 55 incher... but I thank GOD every time a fiddy hits the net.
Edited by C.Painter 9/13/2013 1:22 PM
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| It's regional for sure. A 50" on most WI lakes is a very rare fish. In MN, not so much. If catch & release took better hold in northern WI, and the WI DNR did a better job stocking and managing their fisheries, I expect you'd see that change like it did on LOTWs where a 50" wasn't nearly as common as it is now. |
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Location: Maplewood, MN | HA! I have yet to get hooks in a 50" fish! Anything around 47" + is a #*^@ nice fish. |
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Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | I will have to confer with the panel in the advanced angler section to answer that question |
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| What about this side of the coin....I have caught a 52" fish from Canada that was long and skinny, a nice fish, but nothing like a couple of 50" GB fish that had girths of over 26" and were absolutely pigs ...length isn't everything. Those fat fish were over 40 lbs each and gave amazing battles!!! To me they were the real trophies not the 52" fish. |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Guest - 9/13/2013 3:02 PM
What about this side of the coin....I have caught a 52" fish from Canada that was long and skinny, a nice fish, but nothing like a couple of 50" GB fish that had girths of over 26" and were absolutely pigs ...length isn't everything. Those fat fish were over 40 lbs each and gave amazing battles!!! To me they were the real trophies not the 52" fish.
+1 agree completely |
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| Every lunge in the boat is a trophy. The only reason 55" seems like the new 50" is because you've been on these internet boards too much. I think it mostly deals with the abundance of Musky fishing talk and the ease of doing it. I never got my 50, and I was lucky enough to be pretty much born casting, and growing up meeting so many people and seeing/handling so many fish...but I still haven't got my 50. I've seen her, more times than my total amount of catches that's for sure! Up until the internet, I've never really read about so many people who are gung-ho crazy about catching their said trophy. |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | 'because you've been on these internet boards too much' says the guy postulating on an internet board.
55" is not the 'new 50'. It's 55". 50" is a trophy, and so is 48' to the vast majority of Muskie anglers out there. |
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