|
|
Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | For me it depends on the tackle I catch them on . A 36 is huge when you,re bass fishing ha ha ha . But like most of you I think 50 is the benchmark most of us shoot at. However they are all fun and Ill catch 40 inch fish all day and like it. Mike |
|
| |
|
Posts: 35
| A big fish is a fish you would be proud to catch and have a picture with. Whether it's your biggest, your first, or just a great fish you caught in limited time or during a tough year. The great thing about musky fishing is that your "big" fish, under any definition, can get bigger if you release it and keep fishing. To put it in perspective, a "big" whitetail can be 150" or 115" only a county away depending on lakes, nutrition, management, etc. Although not many of us consider a 32" fish a bigg'n many people kill basket rack 10 p bucks and they are bigg'ns at their camp or their state. The catch and release aspect of this sport, unlike hunting, will only continue to allow fish to grow and keep growing if they aren't killed. The passion and effort put into the sport should be more cherished than the size. I'm lucky to hunt in good whitetail country and my biggest is a 158" 6 yr old, one of my friends has 4 bigger than that, and I have seen much bigger, but haven't gotten a shot at one. But being it was 6.5 and we had years of trail-cam photos of it know what deer it was makes it HUGE.. to ME. Limitations apply everywhere, just keep fishing and you'll find your "BIG". |
|
| |
|
Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | A really big fish is anything bigger than what I've already caught. A nice fish is any fish I catch that isn't a really big fish.
I temper my excitement based on what water I'm fishing. If I'm on a lake that regularly puts up a cetain size fish, no matter what size that may be, when you catch one, it's nothing special, fun, but again, nothing special. If you catch the biggest fish the lake has put up in many a year, then you've done something to brag about no matter what the actual size. For example, the 30# fish we catch in Canada would be giants in some of the lakes I have fished in WI, but there, they are just nice fish. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 222
Location: c.wis | avg. 35-40, nice 40-45, big 45+, 50+ is a slob.............. but I mostly go by weight, anything over 30lbs. is a trophy, really depends on where you fish but this is my benchmark. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 743
| 30-40 Just a musky but a musky nonetheless
41-45 A nice fish
46-47 A pretty big fish
48-49 Alright ,we're getting there,but not quite there yet
50-53 Now that's a big one
54- Now that's a REAL BIG fish
No matter what the size,they are all fun to catch
Edited by KSauers 12/16/2010 9:23 AM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 1
| I just started Musky fishing last year but have fished for bass all my life. So it's all in your perception cuz the 40 incher I caught this October was HUGE! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 8828
| Interesting to note the discrepancy between the size of the average muskie and what people consider to be a big fish...
My average year to year runs about 38", which would lead me to believe that even my own interpretation of "big" might just be skewed. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | Like some have said, it depends on where you are at. It depends on the water you're fishing, how many you have caught, and what your personal best is. Sometimes, when the fish are hard to catch, even a 40 incher can seem big. But, if one has just released two 48 inchers in the past week and then hook a 49, it may not seem all that big. But if one has never caught a 49 incher or anything close to that, then it would be really big if not huge.
My ten year old daughter caught her first Muskie, a 45 incher, this year. To her it wasn't just big, it was absolutely huge. My personal best is 54 inches and so, for me, something similar or maybe even larger than that would be "huge".
But isn't it fun just fishing whether they are big or not? For me, just being on the water is so much fun. Chasing Muskies makes it much better and catching a Muskie, no matter what size, is a blast. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 203
Location: Alexandria, Minnesota | It is crazy how over the last couple of years the bench mark has been set so high. I had a couple of days this year that we boated three 50 inch fish in one day. On one of those trips, We had been out for about 10 hours and my client was getting cold. I remarked to him that I wanted stay out another hour because I wanted to catch a huge fish. He looked at me and laughed, He said hey I have already caught 3 50 inch fish today. I don't know about you but those are huge fish in my book.
That really made me take a step back and appreciate the great fisheries we have here in Minnesota.
Thank you CPR and MNDNR |
|
| |
|
| Today that bench mark for a Big Muskie for me personaly is 55 inches or longer,with girth of 28 inches or more! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1207
Location: Pigeon Forge TN. | For me it is anything bigger than the last one I caught, etc, etc. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32
Location: Tower, Lake Vermilion | I never met a Muskie I didn't like, some are just better than others....
Any fish over 40 is a good fish, Anything over 50 is a giant in my book.
I think as you get older(like me) the time on the water becomes far more valuable to you. With that said, any muskie makes my day.
"Ace"" |
|
| |
|
Posts: 53
Location: Victor, ID | The muskies we land are never as BIG as the ones that get away.
That's what keeps us coming back.
Cheers! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 253
Location: On the water | The one that's on the end of my line!
Happy Holidays to all, Tom |
|
| |
|
| I think "big" is what a person makes it.
For me in Minnesota big is 48" plus and huge is 55 or more.
In Wisconsin I would go 45" plus big and huge is 50 or more.
In Ontario I would say 48" plus is big and 56/57" plus is huge.
I guess it is all relevant to past catches and the locations that people fish IMO. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 909
| Muskie03 - 12/15/2010 10:07 AM
Big to me is anything over 30 lbs. Nice is something around 25 or so. Length doesn't always constitute for a big fish for me. For example this Nov. we put two 45.5" fish in the boat and hour apart. My buddies had an average girth if that, maybe 24 lbs. Mine was a slob with a 24" girth probably over 30lbs. I like fat heavy fish more than i like length. I'd take an obese 48 over a slimmer 50 any day. Then again I'm not all that right in the head. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
My thoughts exactly! Big and fat with a dinner plate head is a "Good one"
Brian  |
|
| |
|
Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | a big fish is whatever the angler thinks is big,could be 35 to a new muskie fisherman,and then you have those guys who will shake off a 45 like it`s a 22 incher. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 9
| Any musky is a good musky in my opinion. |
|
| |
|
| it's all relative to your years of experience, what size fish you have caught up to the current point in time, where you fish and what size fish you encounter.
my first hour of musky fishing in 1993 I caught a 37" incher, at that point, fish #1, hour #1, that was BIG to me. now 17 years later and ~700 fish later, I still fish the same lake and I now consider 45"ers big on that lake. When I'm in MN, four footers or better are big. 52 or better might be called beasts, 54+ and fat are reserved for Giant status.
all boils down to your experience level and lakes you fish or are fishing.
my 2 cents
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 17
Location: northeast ohio | i would love to someday be able to land a 55 incher. but for now a musky is a musky. My last musky this year was right around 30, and i was just as excited as i was with my other fish. This was only my first year though, so just catchin em was awesome. ...and besides, "a small musky is better than a huge bass" |
|
| |
|
Posts: 240
| I fish Lake of the Woods. My goal is to put as many 50's in the boat as possible during the season. To me though 38 to 43 is average so a big fish is anything over 45 inches and I am real happy
Cory |
|
| |
