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Thought I would share with everyone my surprise catch from Saturday! I went up with my brother early morning looking for crappie. We caught a few perch but slow day on the crappie. I saw a fish swim across the flasher at about 20 fow (we were fishing 40fow). I figured I might as well reel up to that level and see if I could get any hits. After about a minute of jigging I had a hit and the fight was on! I was fishing with 2lb test and and ultra light rod so I was skeptical of what kind of fish we had. After about 10 minute battle we were able to finally see we had a tiger-muskie on the end of the line! It took another few minutes of back and forth to finally get the fish grip pliers on it and pull it out of the hole. It was just under 3 ft long and just over 10 lbs. Took a few photos and released it back down the hole. It took off in a hurry! I honestly felt lucky to catch one, especially with the tackle I was using. It was a rush for sure and I hope to be able to catch another thru the ice!
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That is a great looking fish, what a surprise catch . I can just imagine the fun it was to catch it.
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Serious congratulations in order. I wonder if there's a state record for pound test?
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Great fish! I'd be happy to catch that muskie in northern wisconsin. Good thinking about moving your bait up in the water column.
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What an awesome catch!!!
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Awesome fish! One thing I'd sure love to luck into one winter. Give yourself credit for working the fish into a bite, you were doing something he liked!
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Congrats to you and what a pretty fish.
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Congratulations on your catch.
Looking at the picture it looks pretty close to where I caught my first muskie through the ice. about the same size too.
RJ
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Kudos on landing a monster on light tackle! Always a thrill.
TiteLines
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Congratulations on landing such a large muskie on especially on extremely light tackle.
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Two pound test! Wow! But, what is two pound test to a mighty tiger muskie but perhaps the most subtle of suggestions that it might visit and only if it feels like it? I think I might be able to develop psychokinetic force of about a two pound pull, but still wouldn't expect that to be of any consequence to a tiger muskie! You must have used a silent fish whistle. Wow, what a feat on only two pound test!
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I did a quick check of the line class records for tiger muskie and the fish you caught may have broken the 2 lb. record if it could have been certified. Unfortunately Utah's current regulations prohibit keeping a muskie less than 40 inches in length. The special regulations at Pineview require that all muskie be immediately released.
To qualify for a line class record a sample of the line has to be submitted to the IGFA and the fish's weight must be certified.
It is still be something to be proud of. You accomplished something that very few, if any fishermen have ever done.
I thought I did good getting a 41.5 inch tiger muskie at Joe's Valley in 2015 using 8 lb. line. It's more difficult to do what you did through the ice at Pineview. Congrats!
Mike
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Congratulations, that is an amazing catch.
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Thanks everyone for your comments. I do feel lucky for sure with the tackle I had. The more I have thought about it I think I had a few things working for me that all came together at the same time.
First, I had a brand new tungsten jig head I had just put on probably 20 minutes before I hooked him. I have had other jigs bend from trout or other fish so I think that helped.
Second, I hadn't messed much with the drag since I had such light tackle on and fishing for pan fish so when he took it, it didn't take much resistance for it to take off. I honestly probably would have had my drag set too tight for such a fish on 2lb test that it would of snapped on the initial bite.
It seemed like the slower I reeled, the less resistance he felt and almost lulled him to the surface when normally, with stronger line, I probably wouldn't have been as careful. Some days the stars align. Not very often though.
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