Big Musky from Eastern Lake Ontario

[Scott McKee]

How many times have we heard or read about the angler who catches a large muskie and stays with and holds the muskie in the water for 30 minutes or more before the fish swims away. And it seems all those articles tend to congratulate the angler not only for his catching achievement, but for the care and concern in ensuring a successful release of a trophy fish. Truth is, there should be no cause for celebration as that is most likely a dead fish. There is no reason it should ever take more than a minute before the fish swims away. I’ve assisted in the release of well over a thousand muskies of all sizes - including some very large specimens. Only rarely does it takes more than a minute for the fish to successfully swim away, and those times are usually related to an air bladder problem (they can actually swim away, but can’t submerge until the air bladder releases the necessary air ). If it takes more than a couple minutes, I likely mishandled the fish. - Tony Scime

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