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Nice fish!!!

This story is 100% authentic. How do I know you ask? I'm a canuck who moved here to MI about two years ago and an avid Musky fisherman on LSC. In addition to the field and stream article, one of my best fishing buddies is good friends with the lure maker. We also have a weekend place in Boyne City - about 1 hr north of Torch Lake. This has been all over the news (and reported by legitimate fishing and outdoors experts...unlike that silly CBC/National report on the LSC 50lb Musky) lol!!!. It may have been in the F & S article or another one, but apparently it took them many hours to find a certified scale that could handle such a large fish. There were estimates the fish could have lost up to 5lbs of it's body weight during that time. They did keep it on ice. The guy who caught it is a hard core Musky hunter who has been fishing this lake for years. This body of water is not LSC or the Ottawa River. Don't even think of coming down for a weekend in the hopes of lots of fish...or even one! Musky are very few and far between on Torch. Michigan fishing absolutely rocks! This is a good time to mention that the new WORLD RECORD Brown Trout was caught less than 100 miles south of Torch Lake a few months ago. +40lbs! Would you care to challenge the legitimacy of that as well? Oh yeah...my avatar is a legitimate 37.25lb (53 3/4 length; 22" girth which was measured in the water) Lake St Clair Musky I caught in August 2008. The LSC certified record is just under 42lbs (though much larger fish have been caught, photographed, and released in the Detroit River). With that knowledge, I was sucked in by Peter Mansbridge to watch the entire National which featured the "LSC 50 lber" only to be very sadly disappointed!!! Tight lines!

If you're coming to the hump, it might be worth your while to try and target a musky or two while you're at it. I caught my personal best just west of the hump early last August. 53 3/4 inch and 37.25lbs. She's in my avatar. Though the size may be larger elsewhere...ie GBay, Ottawa or the St. Lawrence Rivers, you will be hard pressed to find a healthier natural Musky fishery than LSC. The regulars have ensured it's virtually 100% catch and release. Regarding the lake itself, you should be OK with a boat that size on the hump. I've seen folks in smaller, but always felt they were taking more of a chance than I'd be prepared to out there. The hump is a lot further out from the marina than it looks! However I'd strongly recommend you listen to or bring a marine weather radio and keep a constant look to the western horizon for thunder boomers forming at this time of year. LSC averages 11 feet deep. Typical depths around the hump vary from 11-15 feet. I've witnessed that lake go from calm conditions to four - five footers in less than an hour of steady westerly winds... and drop back to calm almost as quickly. Unlike Simcoe, which is fairly deep....think of LSC as the world's largest puddle, picture a kid splashing in it and presto, you have a good perspective of a very windy day out there. When it's relatively calm, it is simply beautiful. By the way, it is not uncommon to have a nice walleye hit 6-8 inch musky lures trolling at over 4 mph on LSC. I caught a beautiful 4-5 lb one a while back. As long as you respect the lake and keep your eyes open you should be fine! Enjoy and be sure to post your conquests!!!

We caught a beautiful five-six foot Sturgeon exactly the same way on Lake St. Clair last summer. It was foul hooked while we were musky trolling at over 4mph. We estimated the fish to be over 60lbs! I usually hear of about 5-6 accidentally caught this way each season. It was extremely difficult to bring her to the boat though as she was hooked on the belly and literally had to be dragged in sideways. There was another boat trolling close by. Their crew was literally jumping out of their skin as the big tail thrashed!! Thankfully we were able to unhook her and get her swimming again without any trouble! Truly an incredible experience! I plan to learn how to fish for them in the Detroit River this season.

Thanks. BTW - another cool avatar. 1971 was a great year for Jerry and the boys. Still my favourite live band of all time! I spent a few 4th of July's just across the Peace Bridge from you @ Rich Stadium!

Those are fantastic results! Good for you guys.

As an admin, I'm hoping you'll allow me to hijack my own thread: I trust you've told the story behind that beautiful Northern in your avatar, however I'd love to hear it. Wow!!!

It's actually a purebred "great lakes strain" Muskellunge. I agree... the spots are much more pronounced than any great lakes muskies I've seen pictured from elsewhere (Gbay, Niagara River, St. Lawrence, etc). Given that there is a very healthy(and naturally occuring) population of both Pike and Musky in LSC. believe it or not there is now a small natural population of Tiger Musky's (Hybrids) as well. I had the good fortune to catch a high 30 inch one last year trolling the US side of the lake for Musky. They have absolutely beautiful markings....light colour "tiger stripes" on a predominently dark coloured fish. They also have the rounded fins of a pike.

Hi everyone, Although I've only posted a few times over the years on OFC, this is one of my favourite fishing forums. As a fellow Canuck (who recently moved to the Michigan), I thought I'd share with you all my new personal best Musky caught in the beautiful "Canadian waters" of Lake St Clair this past Sunday. I hope you musky fans enjoy as much as I did. By the way, after a quick measure, weigh in, and picture, she was back in the livewell for some R&R before swimming off to get even bigger and stronger! Oh yeah - she was accurately measured in at 34 1/4 lbs and just a nudge over 51".

Thanks for the info! I'm not surprised. Personally I thought a fish that size in the great lakes would be an absolute freak of nature. I also thought it was interesting that the caption said it took about 6hrs to land??? and was caught at 11AM. In May - it would still be light out at 5PM!!! This pic was taken in the dark. Oh well - still a nice fish - wherever it was caught!

This one was apparently caught this spring in Kincardine (Lake Huron). I do not know the original source of the picture. However you gotta say Wow! I have also heard they are common under the BlueWater Bridge (Sarnia-Port Huron) - although I doubt there are many caught this big.