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Published: 31 October 2024

St. Croix Report

Joe Duncannon

Duncannon, Pennsylvania fishing guide and St. Croix Rod Ambassador, Joe Raymond, must be living right.

Almost a month to the day after catching a 7.1-pound personal-best smallmouth bass that many believe to be the largest ever recorded on the Susquehanna River, Raymond caught another fish that has the internet buzzing. This one, however, was over twice as long and seven times heavier. No, it wasn’t a smallmouth bass.

“I was taking some time off and bass fishing up at the St. Lawrence River,” says Raymond, who always carries muskie gear on the deck of his Rockproof River Rocket when plying the waters of the storied fishery.

“I’m not a muskie expert… just an enthusiast,” Raymond emphasizes. “I was scouting some new spots for bass the night before the full moon. Some of my areas have been getting a lot more pressure, so I was just exploring on my day off.”

Raymond was marking bass and working some scattered rocks along a grass line at about 5:00 PM when his Legend X spinning rod doubled over.

“I hooked a three-pound bass and was fighting it back to the boat when I saw a big muskie charge up with gills flared right underneath it,” Raymond recalls. He describes the fish as a bona fide supertanker. “This fish was as fired up to eat as they come, but I couldn’t throw back at it because I wasn’t rigged up,” he says. Raymond unhooked the bass and hurriedly grabbed his muskie rod.

After tying on a substantial chunk of white rubber, Raymond started fan casting with his Legend Elite Muskie LEM86HF. “I couldn’t locate the fish on my electronics, so I was just casting and ripping the bait along that grass line,” he says. After about 20 minutes of rip… pause… rip, Raymond says his lure hard-stopped and he set the hooks into “all the weight in the world.”

The St. Lawrence River has some of the biggest muskies to be found anywhere and claims a historical world record – a 69-15 fish caught by Arthur Lawton in 1957. “Historical” because although the catch is still recognized as the NY state record by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, it was disallowed as a world record by both the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the International Game Fish Association amidst much controversy – like so many other old muskie records. That said, there’s no arguing that the St. Lawrence has produced numerous documented muskies over 50 pounds. Over the past few years, Raymond himself had already caught three fish there 55 inches or greater.

And he suspected the fish he was tied into might be his biggest yet.

“I was pretty sure the fish with my lure in its mouth was the same giant that had followed my bass to the boat,” Raymond says. “It was fighting like crazy… just dug and dug and dug, but I’ve been fooled before; I’ve caught 44-inchers that I swore were going to be a whole lot bigger. I had my drag totally locked down and was giving this fish everything my equipment and I had to get it into the net as quickly as possible.” When he got the fish near the boat, his suspicions were confirmed. “I’m sure it was the same fish,” he says. “Long, deep, and incredibly girthy all the way down through its tail. The fish was still punching and surging, but I saw it was well hooked, so I backed off the drag a half turn. I knew I had her.”

55

Raymond slid the giant into his net. He taped the fish at 55” long and 27” around.

“I was shaking and just wishing someone else was there to share the experience,” says Raymond, who spotted some people on a nearby beach and idled over with the fish in the net to ask for their help with a couple of photos. “They were interested in what I’d caught and were happy to help. They were so nice,” he says. While Raymond didn’t weigh the fish, he speculates it was somewhere just north of 50 pounds, making it the heaviest of his life — a statement backed up by common muskie length/girth weight calculators.

Takeaways

Raymond says he was fortunate to locate a trophy fish on a body of water known for giant muskies at the right time. “Anyone who puts time in chasing muskies knows what a grind it usually is,” he says. “Timing definitely matters. You can go days without catching or even moving one, then you hit a feeding window and the switch flips and you might see and catch several. That’s why I don’t guide for muskies; I really don’t want that kind of pressure… plus, I don’t want to ruin muskie fishing for myself.”
Raymond says if you are fortunate enough to catch one of these big, old St. Lawrence muskies – or a big muskie anywhere – you’ve really got to be extra careful with them. “Other than taking a couple of photos and measuring it, this fish was kept in the water the whole time. That’s important. And when you do take them out, despite their size and how resilient they may seem, they’re actually more fragile than about any other trophy fish. Gravity alone can injure a fish like this, so how you lift and handle them matters.”

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Published: 27 September 2024

Seaguar Report

Musky release

The muskellunge, most often called muskie or musky, is a special fish with legions of loyal fans that target them in their native and expanded ranges. They are the apex predator with the ferocious attitude to match while still remaining highly elusive. They don't call them "The fish of 10,000 casts" for nothing, and succeeding at catching them is a significant accomplishment some days, which is part of the draw for noted musky expert Pete Maina and Northwest Wisconsin fishing guide Josh Teigen.

Maina and Teigen fish for everything that swims, in open water and through the ice, but the musky holds a special place in their hearts. Both love targeting them and agree that the fall months are some of the best times to catch them.

Why Musky?

Maina, a well-known musky expert, also authored a book called Muskies Suck nearly three decades ago. His timeless story illustrates the allure of tricking these prized fish to bite.

"The single biggest thing about fishing for them is the mystique since they are generally low density in bodies of water and they are the top of the food chain predator," said Maina. "They are not for everyone because they are so tough to catch; you can go for hours or a full day without seeing one, which sometimes doesn't make sense why you are even trying. Then, all of a sudden, it's a great big fish with teeth moving very quickly and hitting right at the boat. When you see one like that, it scares you, and I still get shocked by them every time it happens, and no other fish gives me that reaction."

For much of September, Teigen is chasing musky with clients, and they do it for many of the same reasons. "The chance to catch the biggest fish that swims in our waters is amazing," he said. "It's also a major challenge because of how elusive they are, and there's no guarantee that you will catch one. That's part of the fun, it's the chase."

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