MuskyMo - 3/24/2014 12:42 PM

Larry, Wow, it looks alot bigger than that and bigger than some of the 50#ers posted, i wonder what that fish weighed? The head and body just look huge in that pic, i wouldnt of been suprised if someone told me that thing was pushing 60#s. Cool that it was released.

Anyone else on here that goes to andy myers ever talked with herbie about that fish and what he guessed it weighed? Given steves knowledge of ski's I would assume he could guess it pretty close

MstrMusky - 3/25/2014 12:08 PM


Yes, I know Herbie well and yes I have talked to him about the fish. The reason you'll never get a straight answer on how big that fish really was is because they just dont know.

The story goes that the client, Herbie's buddy Jack, had already taken his trophy deer early in his hunt. The rest of the guys there with Jack that week were out on their deer stands and Herbie and Jack were back at the lodge with nothing to do. Jack said, "we cant just sit here, lets go Musky fishing." So Herbie had one of the lodge employees re-launch his boat since it had already been pulled for the year. They went over to a well known spot somewhat near the lodge and caught that fish on a sucker.

Since the boat had to be relaunched, Herbie told me he did not have all of his equipment in the boat, including a measuring stick. Larry is correct that Herbie believes the fish to be around 55-56" (never got into details on how they measured it, but I know in the past in this situation Herbie has used a piece of line or flourocarbon and marked the fish's length and then back at the lodge laid the line up against a stick). In terms of weight, Herbie just kind of shrugged it of and when I said "over 50lbs?" he said "who know, maybe 55." And then shook his head.

I asked why he was shaking his head. And he said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I pressed and he said, "that was the second largest fish on the reef that day." So naturally, I said, "how big was the other one?" Herbie looked at me and I gathered that he didnt want to talk about it any further. End of Story. :)

MuskyMo - 3/25/2014 1:42 PM
Wow thats a cool story!!. No wonder there hasnt been much talk about the size of that fish. A true Giant....also funny that their was a bigger one spotted. I know eagle has WR size class fish swimming in it and that story and picture confirm it. It would be coool to know the real weight and length but its cooler they let it go. if that fish is still alive what a monster she would be. What year did this happen?

Kingfisher - 3/25/2014 1:31 PM

I for one am very glad we have the new world record committee . The standards for measuring and weighing will keep all future records honest and that is important to me. So we have this new 58 pound fish. And its from My home state. I was not surprised really because I knew what that system was capable of. I hope now we can protect the rest of those girls from being harvested. It is time for the St. Lawrence and Georgian bay to answer the call and put the first completely verified 60 pound fish on the books. I am confident it will happen soon. I am also confident that we will end up somewhere north of 65 pounds . Our 58 pound fish had an almost empty stomach and no egg mass. The possibilities? your guess is as good as mine.

jano - 3/25/2014 4:34 PM



if the fish was almost empty what was the cause of that girth then?
im not sure about that so empty stomach

Larry Ramsell - 3/26/2014 8:16 AM

Mstrmusky: Right on point about Jack's monster. I have wondered for years just how big that devil was. Jack is a big boy, but we must consider that the fish is in front of him in the photo, so the fish will appear larger, but even at that, it looks like it could eat 'ol Louies record fish! And to know that wasn't the largest one there that day just has to give one the shivers. There was also a slightly smaller one there.

Larry Ramsell - 3/26/2014 8:16 AM
As for your comment about me seeing a "WR in Eagle Lake", one must take it in the context of timing, as we used to think the record was near 70 pounds. Now that we know better, I can say that perhaps "maybe" I have seen one or two in Eagle that would make the grade. I lost one in 1969; "Flying Gertie" that escaped after a brief fight and a monster jump where I got a good look at her. I estimated her at the time to be 60 inches and around 60 pounds...she had a tremendous full length girth.

As for your reference to "World Record Point", that story has obviously "morphed" a bit over the years, as I do not recall such, at least by that name.

Larry Ramsell - 3/26/2014 8:16 AM
Eagle can be a very fickle love. While she did treat me to a couple over 40 pounds (largest 44 1/4 pounds), she teased me nearly to insanity thereafter. After catching three in one day, I began a three year stretch wherein I managed to put only one 15 inch "beauty" (you read it right, 15 inches) in the boat...BUT, during that three year stretch my fishing partners and I had shots at 4 different fish I estimated between 55 pounds and "up". None however did I believe were over 60 pounds, but I didn't get to weigh them. None hit the bait. Herbie and I believe the Wendelberg brothers got one of them and it was one of the biggest of the four! Another I dubbed "Basketball", because it looked like it swallowed one, was another I'd like to have gotten. I haven't been back since...

Kingfisher - 3/25/2014 5:43 PM The Michigan fish had a mostly digested 13 inch small mouth in its stomach. Back bone and head. I got that info from Larry and Will Schultz. No egg mass either. Her girth was just that big. she was a true 58 pound fish with no additions for stomach contents or egg mass. I believe at some point in her life she weighed much more. My guess is somewhere north of 65 pounds fully loaded. W e covered her stomach contents in the Biology forum months ago. We also saw posted pictures from a taxidermist of several other smaller fish that had up to 10 pounds of forage in their guts. It is my opinion that fully loaded they are Unicorns. Smiles everyone ha ha ha . Mike: That fish had an almost completely digested 13-inch smallmouth bass in it...only thing left was the backbone, ribs, tail and a tad of skin near it and the lower jawbone. ----- Muskie regards, Larry Ramsell http://www.larryramsell.com Mike