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Ice Fishing Media => Ice Fishing Pictures => Topic started by: saxmatt on Feb 27, 2019, 07:57 PM
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I caught the fish of a lifetime last week. The world record tiger through the ice is only 27.5lbs I believe, I haven’t heard of a fish over 30lbs. I knew the record was attainable because I’ve seen much bigger ones landed open water. I’ve been fishing for muskie through the ice for years and finally landed this monster tiger at 47” and 30.5lbs.
Here’s the story: I was using a live sucker as bait and my flag went up around 2pm. When I got to my flag I picked up my tipup and felt the fish, I was completely spooled. I was shocked because I have about 200 yards of line on my tipups. I started bringing her in and she swam right towards me, I didn’t really feel the weight until she got by the hole, then I knew it was a big fish. Unfortunately my 10” Eskimo hc40 broke the week before (both propane and oil are leaking out and I’m not even through my 2nd tank) so I was using an 8” hole. The fish did some lazy circles for maybe 5 minutes and I couldn’t get the head started up the hole so my buddy went back to his sled to grab the auger. I had her under the hole for maybe another 5-10 minutes then she opened her mouth and her entire lower jaw was in the hole and I was able to get a boga grip on her and pull her out. She was hooked right in the corner of the mouth so I popped the hook out, weighed her with my weigh sling and boga, took a few pics and some video then sent her back. When I went home I put a 30lb dumbbell in my sling to test my boga and the fish was about half a pound heavier making it 30.5lbs. I still can’t believe I caught this fish. I also landed a few other nice muskie this season including a PB pure strain so it’s been quite the year so far!
(https://i.postimg.cc/tn94gJ1s/27-B46-FD6-254-C-499-C-BE67-E499-AFBC677-D.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/tn94gJ1s)
(https://i.postimg.cc/5QBYxZvJ/5-C6-DE404-94-A0-4741-B09-C-9062-D740-C51-B.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/5QBYxZvJ)
(https://i.postimg.cc/ppv50LbL/55-C49-F4-C-9-CD8-48-BA-8039-769460-EC86-F7.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ppv50LbL)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Yvn4qN4v/4-E0-D94-E0-12-B6-408-A-B192-103-D7293-E73-D.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Yvn4qN4v)
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Beautiful fish!! Congratulations
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Very jealous. Congrats.
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Hell yeah! sweet!
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Wow nice fish
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very nice awsome fish
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Beautiful Beast !!! :woot: Great catch ! Great pics ! BIG CONGRATS !!! :thumbsup: Good to see the sling and spreaders and the RELEASE !!! Well done :clap:
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That is a great fish, congratulations!
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Congrats 👍🏻
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Great story and great job getting her back in the water, my hat off to you.
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Did you get a pic of it with a tape? Could have maybe qualified for a catch and release record? Either way, great fish. I've been trying to get one for the last 4 years. I'm not sure they even exist in MA! :-\
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congrats on a beautiful fish ,,,, : :thumbsup: goodluck stay safe
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Congrats! it's clear you've put your time in chasing them. Amazing fish and big props for returning her to the water safely. Care to tell us whether that was NJ or CT?
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NOT CT, lol.
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BIG CONGRATS !!
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Fantastic :thumbsup: :clap:
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Awesome job and one heck of a fish!!!
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very,,very nice ;D
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Incredible! Thanks for sharing.
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Awesome! Congrats on beautiful tiger!
Where in Florida did you say you were fishing? Lol!!
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Beautiful Tiger a beast only thing I'm not a Pat's Fan.
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That's an awesome fish. Congratulations!
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Thats an incredible fish of a lifetime and an awesome hat too. Will that qualify for record books if you released it without weighing on a certified scale? Just curious, Congrats!!
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Thats an incredible fish of a lifetime and an awesome hat too. Will that qualify for record books if you released it without weighing on a certified scale? Just curious, Congrats!!
I’m not going to try to register it. It’s tough to tell the exact weight with a boga, they are accurate but you can’t read the weight to the ounce, the lines are pound and half pound.
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congrats man, that is an amazing fish, glad to see someone who puts a lot of effort into the sport have it pay off. if you dont mind me asking, do you target tigers the same as pike or is there a subtle difference in how you set up? more curious about type of structure and depth then actual rigging.
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very nice fish good job
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congrats man, that is an amazing fish, glad to see someone who puts a lot of effort into the sport have it pay off. if you dont mind me asking, do you target tigers the same as pike or is there a subtle difference in how you set up? more curious about type of structure and depth then actual rigging.
I fish deeper than I do for pike, 10-30’+ of water. Live and dead baits both work.
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Thanks that's what I was thinking
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Very nice
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Congrats, a very nice fish...h2l
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Great catch congrats!
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Outstanding!
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Wow, beast of a fish! Good for you for releasing instead of chasing a wall hanger. Reminds me of an article I read about a record holder for muskies, after having the record, he then caught an even bigger one. Instead of keeping it, he took a few measurements and pics and let it go. Of course he didn’t say where it was.
We don’t have those in my state, as pike and muskies are both considered invasive species that shouldn’t be released. I can’t say I don’t like fighting a gator on the end of my line, but they’re considered bad news here.
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Great fish, glad you let him go to get bigger :-), love that your using a sling for weighing the giants :-), way to go, hope you see him again next year even bigger :-).
:o
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Congratulations, man! That looks awesome!
By the way, newbie here as well. Whenever I’m taking a break from this particular interest, I’m usually found at home, feeding my Pomeranian his favorite dog treats (http://www.petstreetmall.com/Dog-Treats/1513.html) and watching TV with my wife. Such a simple and noble life. Cheers, fellas!
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With that hat comes greatness. Nice fish.
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Congrats! Very impressive!
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congrats to ya beautiful fish!
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Awesome fish !
Get the IGFA standard measuring device tapes for your next monster !
There are some IGFA catch and release world record categories for just length,.... and a length and 2 girth measurements (for estimated weight) catch and release world record category too, using their standard measuring device tapes and pictures.
(no sling or scale are used to weigh the fish)
Great job.
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Congratulations! That's just awesome!
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WOW, that is awesome, what a big beautiful fish. :o
A big congrats to you saxmatt for the fish of a lifetime, and on letting her go again. :clap: :thumbsup:
With the photos you took, you could get a nice replica made. @)
WW
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Awesome fish, Congratulations!
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Awesome fish congrats.
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WOW, that is awesome, what a big beautiful fish. :o
A big congrats to you saxmatt for the fish of a lifetime, and on letting her go again. :clap: :thumbsup:
With the photos you took, you could get a nice replica made. @)
WW
Thanks! I might get a fiberglass mount. That first pic was a screenshot of a video so I have plenty of good shots! You can see the girth better in this pic:
(https://i.postimg.cc/gnXyP6hS/AFDCF1-C1-AB71-467-D-B31-D-513-E6-A246925.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/gnXyP6hS)
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Really nice fish Matt! Tip o' the hat for puttin' her back to make some more! (https://i.postimg.cc/mkBxQJRr/Tip-o-the-Hat.gif) (https://postimages.org/)
I think tigers are the most beautiful predators swimming. 8" hole? Makes me wonder about a musky I caught some 20 years ago that juuuust fit through an 8.25" Eskimo hole and took two of us massaging her to get her back down. Got a faded snappy somewhere but...
Truly a great, great fish Matt! :clap: :thumbsup: :clap:
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Thanks guys. It was a tight squeeze through the 8” hole, she was missing a couple of scales around the middle of the belly. A 10” hole is a must for big muskie especially when the ice is thick. I just picked up a Milwaukee mud mixer, hopefully it’s strong enough to turn my 10” Eskimo bit because I don’t want to try to repair the propane head. It broke after less than 2 tanks so I don’t want to put more money into it if it’s that unreliable.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/NLB4vWDk/musky-MUSKIE-TIGER-Esox-masquinongy-x-Esox-lucius-big-huge-world.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/NLB4vWDk)
Its a beautiful fish but here is the guy with the official.
You can say all you want but until you get it weighed on a certified scale and do the paperwork, it don't mean you know what!
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"Tip o' the hat for puttin' her back to make some more!"
I believe they are sterile, Esox. I wish they would breed. Certainly beautiful. It's on the list, but they are pretty rare around here.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/NLB4vWDk/musky-MUSKIE-TIGER-Esox-masquinongy-x-Esox-lucius-big-huge-world.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/NLB4vWDk)
Its a beautiful fish but here is the guy with the official.
You can say all you want but until you get it weighed on a certified scale and do the paperwork, it don't mean you know what!
I’d rather let a trophy fish like that go than kill it just to get my name in a book. I broke the NJ state record for carp by about 7lbs too and let it go, it’s been caught by 3 people since. I also recaptured my PB pike and former PB tiger and pure strain muskies. You say it doesn’t mean you know what... but seeing these fish get recaptured and even become the fish of a lifetime for someone else means a lot to me.
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I’d rather let a trophy fish like that go than kill it just to get my name in a book. I broke the NJ state record for carp by about 7lbs too and let it go, it’s been caught by 3 people since. I also recaptured my PB pike and former PB tiger and pure strain muskies. You say it doesn’t mean you know what... but seeing these fish get recaptured and even become the fish of a lifetime for someone else means a lot to me.
that fish was caught in 2009
These days are different replicas came along way. And now people are learning to catch and release more and more. Your fish was great.
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"Tip o' the hat for puttin' her back to make some more!"
I believe they are sterile, Esox. I wish they would breed. Certainly beautiful. It's on the list, but they are pretty rare around here.
That is correct for the most part. Once in a very great while you get a fertile hybrid, very uncommon yet possible. I can only hope ;)2 S'funny, they used to stock these in lots of WI waters but stopped in favor of stocking true muskies. The most interesting thing is after they quit stocking the tigers several years down the road started catching small ones, then larger ones then some pretty nice ones. I nailed a 44" a while back that was re-caught 3 years later (not by me) @ 46.5". Tremendously beautiful fish.
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"Tip o' the hat for puttin' her back to make some more!"
I believe they are sterile, Esox. I wish they would breed. Certainly beautiful. It's on the list, but they are pretty rare around here.
Aren't they a Northern (pike) and Muskie (great lakes variety) cross?
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Aren't they a Northern (pike) and Muskie (great lakes variety) cross?
Yes, a tiger is a pike/muskie hybrid and they are sterile.
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Awesome fish! That world record tiger was caught on the body of water/ice that I fish regularly. Kudos to you for sending her back down the hole!
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Epic catch through the ice
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very , very nice :clap: :clap: :clap:
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I’d rather let a trophy fish like that go than kill it just to get my name in a book. I broke the NJ state record for carp by about 7lbs too and let it go, it’s been caught by 3 people since. I also recaptured my PB pike and former PB tiger and pure strain muskies. You say it doesn’t mean you know what... but seeing these fish get recaptured and even become the fish of a lifetime for someone else means a lot to me.
Couldn’t agree more! Let ‘em live and get bigger.
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I’m not going to try to register it. It’s tough to tell the exact weight with a boga, they are accurate but you can’t read the weight to the ounce, the lines are pound and half pound.
I would register the catch and go moderately to the low side if you feel you can’t get it to the ounce... good work man and collect your recognition! Damn fine fish!
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Well done. Congrats.
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Matt what was the length? Mine was 42" 24" and 23lbs...
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Matt what was the length? Mine was 42" 24" and 23lbs...
47” and fat
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Fish of a lifetime
Big congrats
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47” and fat
What a rush. Congrats brother. Last I checked though the record was a 54" tiger isn't it?
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Great fish!!! Thanks for the pics.
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What a rush. Congrats brother. Last I checked though the record was a 54" tiger isn't it?
I’ve never heard of a tiger over 50” through the ice, the biggest I’ve heard of was 27.5lbs.
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awesome fish and thanks for puttem back awesome congrats to you
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Congrats man fantastic tiger musky
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great fish! nice to hear you put her back even though you felt it could be a record
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Wow ! I caught 3 tigers last week all were under 19". Yours could have eaten all 3 of mine. Great job!
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Here’s ours from last week..
(https://i.postimg.cc/NK2F2pbT/2-D797867-1440-4-E54-B51-D-6138-DDB2-C605.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/NK2F2pbT)
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Well done Dom
http:// For proof, look no further than what should be the new ice fishing world record tiger musky that was pulled from the lake on February 14, 2009. The record fish measured 46 inches long and weighed 27 pounds 5 ounces
Soft water record 52.5”
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This is sick, good work man especially weighing it in a sling much respect
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Congratulations. You are the man!!! Thanks for sharing your amazing story and pictures.