Biggest PA muskies from lakes or rivers?

[Red Childress]

Does anyone know where the largest PA musky caught in PA over the past few decades came from?

I know many guys have stuck some real pigs over the years but I am talking about "official" weights or lengths. If my memory serves me correctly, Steve Warner told me about a Kinzua fish that weighed 47 pounds that was caught in 1987, I think.

[HBmusky]

If I am not mistaken Pittsburghs own Doug Pavick has had the largest musky reported to gf in PA in 04 05 and in 07 these fish were over 40 puond I can not remeber the wieght he told me . The one fish was to say have a 26 inch girth. these were river fish I believe I think up near kinzu and caught casting doug very rarely trolls. I wil ask him to confirm size and length and were I think he even said were in the pa article . 26 inch girth is whaler, I caught one that had a 25 inch girth casting also and it was ungodly a monster ,when they have that girth they are around or climbing over or 40 pounds . Kinzu has some big fish in it but not a good stable population the ratio is very low per acre I just read a article on it they were saying this. The bigest this past year for me was 46 casting it was a lake fish. I had less time this year but that day in 7 hours I stuck 5 it was a good day ,the other 2 guys caught one each and total combined catch and hook ups were 11 . It was great a father and son first time musky fishing they were in aww and tired at the end . the boy age 12 caught a 42 1/2 incher casting hes hooked for life.

[b.bent66]

this is an article from pa angler and boater. im surprised i found it i remembered reading it a few years back. hope it helps.
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2005/04julaug/spec1muskies.pdf
it is a bit old.

[Red Childress]

There are many big fish that are not reported to the PFBC for obvious reasons. Some that are published in there have only been seen/verified by a witness (unless the format has changed over the past several years) and supposedly on accurate scales. Hopefully, the witnesses are honest guys. :)

The fish being held in the PFBC article by Mike was actually caught by Dave Bradley from Warren. I think there was a misprint in the caption beside that fish. Either way, it was a hog. Dave caught it trolling over 70 feet of water, I think.

[Red Childress]

I remember reading this article years back and since we are talking about BIG fish, I decided to steal this link from another site:

http://www.fishinfo.com/fishing-articles/article_384.shtml

[ThreeRiversEsox]

Here's a picture I have saved on my work computer of a PA fish caught out of a Western Pa lake. Close to a 40#er. I don't know the angler, hence the blocked out face.


http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/iceburgh13/PAmuskellunge_1.jpg

[Red Childress]

That fish has some serious girth! Gotta be 40# unless the guy is 3 feet tall.......

I remember a big fish (from last year maybe) that was caught the opening day of trout season and it was HUGE....maybe 51 or 52 but fat...came from somewhere in the Central part of the state.

Anyone remember it?

[stevewarner]

Your correct about that 47pounder,Red.I believe Mr. Pavlicks two biggest fish that I'm aware of were 42 pounders,one from a lake and one from a river.I also recall seeing a 51 pounder caught out of pymatuning in the mid 1970's.And then there was another pymatuning fish caught in 1988 that was 46 pounds,both these pymatuning fish were caught on nightcrawlers!In 1991 there was a 45 pound muskie caught out of east branch lake in elk co.These fish as far as I know were documented by the Fish and boat commision.Howard Wagners Allegheny fish just a couple of years ago is worth mentioning.And one documented fish from out east was a 49 pounder caught in lake wallenpaupack in 1985.

[ThreeRiversEsox]

Here's the Central Pa fish from Canoe Creek Lake, caught on a trout this fella was reelin in on opening day. It was something like 42 pounds I believe.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb12/iceburgh13/sc04_16musky.jpg

[Red Childress]

Steve,

I reference to Howard's fish, he has stuck some real studs over the years. His river fish impress me the most since there are not hundreds of them swimming around like in other parts of the US. Anyone who will go to the extremes that he does to catch a big fish deserves lots of credit........he definitely has some "sweat equity" in those river fish.

[HBmusky]

That is a serious musky guys. Its like a football the shap and structure of the fish looks like a lake fish. I think that was confirmed?? the Pa record came in 1924 53 pounds . How would they determin pymatuming if one came out of there wich is just a matter of time there would be alot of debate . I think that it has the ability to provide it. I just do not think that a river system would provide such a fish because of current. I know Red and Steve we all like the rivers ,I like them the best .but from the west branch of the susquhanna were I come from I do not see nor have I seen a fish that could break that barrier.I have spent half my life on it and I have seen them over 50 only by 1 or 2 icinch but never to amount to 53.1oz wieght. 40 lbs is the biggest I have caught on the west branch I have caught fish that were 30 to 33 . I am still searching as we all are What do you guys think about were the next big things coming from ? heres a susky river musky 49 1/2 40lb 25inch girth its from years ago but I thought I would share it with you guys if it loads.thanks for the great discussion its been very informational .

[Red Childress]

I think there are big fish in both lakes and rivers. Now that we have no closed season, things could get very interesting if the timing is right (pre-spawn) for some lucky guy.

I have seen a legit 54.5/44lb. river fish and another that could have been larger........I just did not get to see her depth but very wide across the back......also in that middle-50" class.

55x30 is my guess to break the record. PA fish over 56" is something I have not heard of before (excluding the 1924 fish) so I am banking on the girth to set it apart from the rest.

My 2 cents.

Do you guys think there is a 30-inch girth swimming around in PA??

[HBmusky]

holy crap !! a 30 inch girth fish ? That is a hard one to swallow in pa but I think you are right though I think right on the moneyto. I look at it this way it happend once it can happen again . It would be just hard for a river to provide the wieght I think I know there are big river fish but it does not cater to the fish like a lake does. What I want to know how they would figure out if it was pa or not on pymatuming that gets split right ? I geuss they would have to have witnesses ? I do not know

[Red Childress]

I understand your point completely.

Logical thinking would have me agree with a 30-inch girth being more likely coming from a lake but the heaviest caught and released North American fish (in decades) came from a river......:)

[HBmusky]

Do you know were? I was just wondering? but Pa biggest musky came from Coneaute lake . Are refering to the st. Lerance whalers ? If so you are not kidding they are some monsters even back in time of Louis Spray that is best known ,but now they are caughting some big creatures also .Do you think that there is a river that is able to harbor a fish of that greatness in PA ? I just think there is too many factors to consider, but I want to believe because of my love for the rivers.

[muskie52]

Howard Wagner's PIG from a few years ago shows that it could happen. And it will probably be him that does it.

Unfortunately, I feel that in order to grow really big muskies consistantly, you need really big water. PA has very little of that.

If I had to pick somewhere that it could happen though, I would say......

Kinzua.......who know what luring in there??? Some piggies for sure! But I don't think many (if any) have the patience to figure that place out.

Allegheny River.......not really a BIG river when compared to the St. Larry or Niagra, but big enough. From Harmarville north, there are some stretches that don't get much pressure. With plenty of forage available, at least a few should be able to grow old and fat.

Raystown......we don't hear much about it. It's big and deep. I'm sure there are some piggies in there, and I'd bet that they're suspended the majority of the time. Sorta like Kinzua...not many (if any) have figured out how to get to them. It's also loaded with forage.

Tony

[Red Childress]

I was referring to the 57x33 caught last November on the Larry.

The PA record musky, like all records, will have to be have the right genetics, abundant food and have the opportunity to grow that big before someone drags her home to lay in a freezer. There has been 1 walleye caught in my section of river wtihin a pound of the 17lb. 6oz. record and it was killed...........those genes are gone now.

Allegheny River fish can grow huge but I agree the record will probably come from a lake or reservoir but you never know.

The musky record is the oldest record we have. Maybe it will never happen.....

[HBmusky]

57 by 33 is ungodly that was caught bby a women ? I think? anyway that is huge! I wounder what the wieght was on that fish? I think you are right about the ginetic .16lb walleye thats a monster! there are going to have to be a lot of factors I think.

[Red Childress]

The dead walleye weighed 16lb. 9oz on certified scales at the taxidermist so who knows how much weight was lost during the transition. That is less than a pound off the state record and was caught in February. How much would it weigh just before the season closed?? Hmmmm, makes you think a little.

As for the 57x33, it was a 3-man crew on a boat fishing the St. Lawrence. The woman was driving the boat and the other 2 guys were dealing with the fish and bringing in their trolling spread.

The guy who actually reeled in the fish was Dale MacNair but is was an absolute team effort, like most musky catches are.


Glendale Lake is another body of water that has to be considered in this big fish discussion. Lake Marburg has a history of big fish dating back to the 60's and 70's as well.

Here is an interesting story for you guys...

There is also a small farm pond being fed by a spring located in a "nearby county" that has a huge musky in it that someone stocked there back in the early-90's. The lady that owns the property is a seasoned musky and walleye fisherman so she knows what a big musky looks like......she said it is easily over 50 inches. She stocked gills and suckers in there after she saw the musky was in there and has pretty much fed it for over 15 years. (She is not sure how it got in there but it must have been stocked by the former property owner.) She called my partner last year to see if he would catch it and get it out of there.....the only "catch" is that he has to transport it to Kinzua without killing it. We will probably go catch it while her eggs are ripe and before the air temps get too warm for the trek to Kinzua. Our plan is to put a kiddie swimming pool filled with the same spring water and try to haul it out of there in the bed of my truck. This pond is barely over 1 acre in size and she sees it on a weekly basis just cruising around.

It is no state record but still a very nice fish. The point I am trying to make is that if a musky with the right genes gets the chance to grow and an endless supply of food, who knows what could happen in any body of water.