A MEASURE OF TIME

By now plenty of stress has been placed upon the muskie and it should be top priority to set the fish free. Dropping, or tossing, the muskie overboard is not the right way to treat a creature that has just given you the thrill of a lifetime and then was gracious enough to stick around posing for photographs.

Carefully return your fish to the water keeping your grip and supporting the belly all the time. Once the fish is in the water upright she will let you know if further attention is necessary. If she kicks and swims away, then it’s good for you. Many times the trauma of the fight leaves excess air in the swim bladder. She may turn on her side or flip upside down. You can hold her upright and “burp” her by gently rubbing her belly from the rear fin forward.

Once she is upright in the water, hold a firm grip on her tail while slowly rocking her side-to-side in a swimming motion. Gently push her forward (never backwards) to get water flowing over her gills. This often gets the fins moving and the gills flaring again. Keep rocking and you’ll feel the tail muscles tighten and try to kick. A gentle push usually does the trick from there and she’ll be off for the weeds to rest. Stick close to the area for a while just in case she surfaces – you may have to recapture and repeat this process a number of times.

Measurements are often taken during this revival time and a floating tape measure will serve well obtaining length and girth. Weight can be determined by formula and it is unnecessary to place the fish under additional stress using a scale, as most muskie hunters brag by inches anyway.

If you really want to get a ballpark on the weight use this formula:

(girth x girth x length)/800

Example:
LENGTH = 45.0”
GIRTH = 21.5”
21.5X21.5X45.0/800 = 26 POUNDS