'We Will Never Know': Uncertified World Record Muskie Boated, Released In Mille Lacs Lake

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A world record muskie may be roaming Mille Lacs Lake.

According to the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Mille Lacs Band DNR biologists pulled in the giant fish this past spring.

While DNR Aquaculture Biologist Keith Wiggins-Kegg and an electroshocking team were engaged in spring electrofishing activities for walleye, a giant muskie was found within the shockwaves.

"We were not looking for muskie," Wiggins-Kegg said. "That wasn't our objective."

When the fish surfaced, Wiggins-Kegg and the team immediately boated the fish, took a length measurement, snapped a couple pictures and then released it back into the lake.

The muskie measured at 61.5 inches. The world record for a hooked muskie is 60.25 inches, which was caught in Hayward, Wisconsin in 1949.

The state record for a muskie is 56.875 inches caught in Pelican Lake in 2016 and the state record for muskie using a fly rod measured 57 inches, caught in Mille Lacs Lake in 2015.

"We didn't have a large enough scale on board to weigh that big of a fish," Carl Klimah, Mille Lacs Band DNR fisheries manager, said. "A fish like this can weigh between 55-75 pounds, but we will never know for sure. We can say that it was huge fish and hope that someone catches it again so we know."