Big Fish, Bigger Fish
Tyler Bell of New Berlin with a beautiful pike.
With open water fishing already here on the rivers and great lakes, and the Wisconsin opening day on the horizon the first Saturday in May, let’s talk big fish….and bigger fish. DNR fisheries biologist Max Wolter discusses the biggest fish observed in DNR surveys.
“One popular question people often ask DNR fisheries staff is ‘What is the biggest fish you’ve seen in a survey?” Wolter said recently. “To answer that question, I looked through our database for each of the most popular local fish species. A note of caution. Our historical survey results (pre-1990) are not all entered into this database.”
“In Sawyer County, the longest muskellunge caught in a DNR survey was a 56-inch female from Lac Courte Oreilles in 2001. The largest northern pike, 44 inches, came from Round Lake in 1950. The largest walleye, 31.6 inches, came from Connors Lake in 1976.”
Tyler scores again.
“The largest largemouth bass, 24 inches, came from Round Lake in 1998. The largest smallmouth bass, 22 inches, came from Teal Lake in 2004. The biggest crappie captured in a DNR survey was 16.8 inches from a small lake near Winter. The largest bluegill, 11.6 inches, came from Ashegon Lake in 1945. The largest yellow perch, 15 inches, came from a small lake near Winter in 2006.” “The largest brown trout, 26.5 inches, came from the Namekagon River in 1984. The largest brook trout, 19 inches, came from Camp Smith Lake in 1977.”
A “one in a million” albino catch.
So, good things can happen to anyone on the water. Take, for example, Tyler Bell of New Berlin. Tyler is an avid fisherman who enjoys fishing the Fox River among many other places, and caught this albino musky late last October. According to Tyler’s mother-in-law and our family’s longtime friend, Mary Follet, who submitted these photos, the DNR called the albino catch “one in a million. “Thanks to Mary, for sending along these other photos sharing some of Tyler’s more notable catches.
A long, healthy and blessed marriage to my niece Jenny and Andrew.
Thank you for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot straight.
Dick Ellis