Joseph Seeberger (at center in photo above) caught a state-record Great Lakes muskie at Bellaire Lake Oct. 13. (DNR Photo)Joseph Seeberger of Portage, Mich. has broken the Michigan muskie record with a 58-pound fish caught on Lake Bellaire in Antrim County Oct. 13, 2012.

Joseph Seeberger (at center in photo above) caught a state-record Great Lakes muskie at Bellaire Lake Oct. 13. (DNR Photo)

The fish measured 59 inches long and had a girth of 29 inches. Seeberger was fishing for smallmouth bass with a 7¼-inch sucker minnow at the time when he caught the fish at 10:30 a.m.

According to a report on the Field and Stream website, it took nearly two hours to land with the anglers chasing the fish with their bow mounted trolling motor. After the fish tired, landing it required the help of two friends, who broke two bass nets in the process. They also tried tying two life jackets together to create a cradle, but the jackets were too buoyant to get under the fish. They finally created lassoes with dock lines and placed one around the head and the other around the tail to hoist the fish into the boat.

Seeberger caught it while using a 7-foot G. Loomis Gl3 spinning rod, Pflueger Supreme reel spooled with 8-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line. A No. 1 Gamakatsu octopus hook was tied directly to the line and a small split shot was pinched two feet above it.

The record was verified by Patrick Hanchin, a DNR fisheries biologist at the Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station and Conservation Officer Steve Speigl.

The previous state-record Great Lakes muskellunge was caught by Kyle Anderson of Rapid City, Mich., on Torch Lake in Antrim County on Sept. 27, 2009. That fish weighed 50.5 pounds and measured 56.13 inches.

“This fish shows that Michigan waters are capable of producing huge fish,” said Fisheries Division Chief Jim Dexter. “Great waters coupled with appropriate management strategies can result in even more record fish.”