dead or alive musky?

Post by **muskymatt** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:09 pm

dead_weight wrote:I couldn't agree more with the comments on how they handled this fish ... one quick pic (or two) and then back in the water. But I'm curious why most of you think it died ?? It appears like it's staying upright on its own and it starts to swim on it's own power near the end of the clip ... why would it die?

I admit I have never caught a musky so I know nothing about releasing them .. however I've released pike that swam swam away in a similar manner and they were fine.

just curious ... and a little bored right now ...

Ok...good question

Imagine running around your house full out for 5 minutes and when you stop you dunk your head in a pail of water...what would happen and how long could you hold it there. Big Muskies need to be given a chance to revive before being hoisted out for a picture.

Now think of a Muskie fighting itself to exhaustion and then being removed from the water for 4 minutes. Irreversible damage can occur due to lack of oxygen

Muskies that big will also generate acids in their bodies that make recovery harder and are due to stress, the more stress the harder to recover.

Also the handeling of the fish in the manner they did likely removed a lot of slime from the fish which is important for protection against bacterias such as lymphosarcoma(sp?).

Just because the fish appeared to be upright has no bearing on the damage done and likely would have sunk and died...but that is just my opinion.

I have seen muskies that even with proper handeling were touch and go on the revival....I spent 45 min holding one once until it swam away under it's own power...the fish in the video clearly did not swim away under it's own power.

Too bad.....fish that big are rare on the Ottawa and could be 20-30 yrs old.

Shame to mishandle a big one like that...hopefully they will learn and do better next time.

Post by **Bass Addict** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:22 pm

Like Bruce Cockburn once said..............

When a tree falls in the forest .....does anybody hear it ????

Post by **Yannick Loranger** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:41 pm

I'm by no stretch an expert on anything muskie, but I do have some input to this thread.

1- I tend to roll my eyes at the "it's like holding your head under water" argument. Fish can gather oxygen from the air we breathe, we can't gather oxygen when we're under water. Obviously it's not good for a fish to be out of water for prolonged periods, but a fish, even a muskie, can survive out of the water alot longer than anyone but James Bond can underwater.

2- Someone mentioned pike. Pike won't fight to the death the way a muskie will. I don't think it's a fair comparison. I've seen too many pike leave my hand like champs on a release only to go belly up once they reach the bottom. That's why I keep all the pike I hook badly.

3- I agree best practices weren't employed with this fish. I feel these guys still had good intentions. Has any of our muskie experts (and I use the term with no sarcasm) contacted the authors of the video to share some knowledge? Who's the say the fish didn't actually survive? The guy did do exactly what he was supposed to when he put it back in the water and the fact that he did release a fish that he legally could have kept tells me that he's in the sport for the right reasons. Also, the video starts with the guys lifting the fish out of a properly sized net Who's to say he hasn't been in the net for a couple minutes already?

Sorry to be the devil's advocate here guys, but these guys just don't look like they deserve a bashing.

Yannick

Post by **joco** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:50 pm

i think it will be dead.(mabe)

but i do have to say its easy to people to juge them..but if it was them that would have caught this monster..not sher they would have done better..then them truly.

i do have to say he did work it well and long to bring hi back...i saw some pro musky fishermans in musky derby do a lot less for the musky then what they did..and they were supose to be pro.

a lot off people would have keep that monster sadly..at least they try...sher they could do a bit better and kept it out shorter time..but having sutch a beats in the hand...they want to take as mutch pict they could.i am not on there side..but do to all the experience they got..i have seens a lot worst then that frome people that no better

i cong them.

but still sad to see sutch a nice fish prob dead.

BUT........BUT

last week..i went to a little lake mini lake i would say and i gave a big pike to sombody on the ashore in a cottage..the guy that put those pike in that lake actualy and he want it...he put it in the garss in front..but chage is mind and put it back in water after 15 min on the grass.

and it went a swim away.

..how i dont no...but i think i got that same past last weekend.

in cold water its deferent then summer time.

lets hope for the best.

beeing so old and live so so mutch and get kill for a few pict..very very sad.

the truth if you realy dont want to kill them ,DONT fish for them..because fishing do kill fish even wit the best handling.

but better handling help.

joco

Post by **marc Thorpe** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:04 pm

My take might be opposite what we may perceive
After watching the video several times,and knowing water temps were ranging bewteen 70 and 73 degrees thats day.
Not to mention the fish was caught on a low atmospheric conditions which can play a role in the fish physical ability to recuperate.
Generally high pressure days,recovery appears to be more lengthy
I did take notice on 1 phisiological sign which lends me to beleive that this fish survived.
Albit possibly some mishandling occured or lenghty time
The continuous and rythimed breathing from the fish at the end of the video leeds me to beleive the fish did quite well during its entire angling experience.

As for being in shallow water,I have found that most fish do quite well during a brief recovery period even those caught in deeper water whom tend to suffer from trapped air in swim bladder.
Generally those that suffer from this can take upwards to an hour in those case ,which is not the case of this fish
We did experience low oxygen content during July and parts of august but oxygen content stabilized themselves in the middle of august.

These guys caught a great big fish and di the best they could given their learning curve

Kudos for the fish and effort in conservation

Post by **steadyj_17** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:14 pm

i just have to say i can't understand how some can say that thses people are "NEWBIES" for one they have a nice frabill net, 2 have a decent selection of musky tackle, and last but not least he has a 300 dollar st croix legend tournament rod with what looks to be a 400 dollar shimano calcutta te on it !! thats not what i consider newbie equipement...

however like marc said there is a chance it survived but i wouldn't place any bets on it.

Post by **IgglesD** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:46 pm

Sloppy technique, but the big picture is these guys not once considered keeping that fish, they released it.....Isn't that a battle won in itself?

Post by **Hollywood** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:48 pm

These people were not newbies to fishing musky. If you read the poster's profile on you tube he lists musky fishing as a hobby and has several musky videos posted. I have not viewed them as my internet connection isn't the best here at home. Many of the you tube comments also criticize the handling of the beastie, and the subby is getting all bent out of shape over it hahahaa

Post by **Yannick Loranger** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:56 pm

yup you guys are right, I retract that statement. These guys certainly aren't newbies

Post by **Fishing 24/7** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:22 pm

note to the guys who got the fish.

CONGRATS!

they say they went back to make sure the fish was ok.

but some hard core fisherman would have come back every houre or what not.

thats a huge fish and a BEAUTY! just look at the markings. pure health.

again this video makes me laugh.

i think i would have did the same.

with worst handling. and more swearing.

when the guy puts the camera to his face and say.

SES MALADE HAHAHAHA.

best part.

Post by **Bass Addict** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:56 pm

steadyj_17 wrote:i just have to say i can't understand how some can say that thses people are "NEWBIES" a 300 dollar st croix legend tournament rod with what looks to be a 400 dollar shimano calcutta

Ok ...

How about there '' RICH '' Newbies

Post by **slop** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:16 pm

Gotta love opinions

Heres my opinion.....NOT ANY OF YOU WILL EVER KNOW WHAT ULTIMATELY HAPPENED TO THAT FISH.

Uber thanks!

Post by **fiiish** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:43 pm

Handling issues aside, the fish in the video is a beauty and I truly hope it survived.

Not to stir the pot here...

I was checking out this guy's other videos and I thought it was cool how this guy brings his giant net to catch panfish like I do at that time of year.

Notice the date!?!!

I'm not sure what zone he's in but I don't think anything is open that would require a net that size.
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WWTi4WxqVeo?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed>
Funny he would post this even though he himself says the fish is not in season.
Incriminating evidence! lol

BTW, just to clarify to anyone shocked at the language used, he's talking about seals.

Post by **Bass Addict** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:11 am

Hey....

Cprince and I are heading to that Lake this weekend....Nice to see there is in Fact Muskie in it....

Post by **Tip-up** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:34 am

I'll give the big girl benefit of the doubt and say she's still swimming

What a fish!