Overlooked Lakes for World Record Muskies

If you are a TRUE Muskie Fisherman you have heard the stories and the experts talk about the "Next World Record Muskie" and where it will come from . Most of the places these folks talk about are well known and well advertised. Georgian Bay in Ontario currently holds the provincial record fish of 65 pounds.

Biologists in Ontario suggest that the following waters hold the best opportunity to catch a record. St. Lawrence River; Lake of the Woods; Wabigoon Lake; Eagle Lake; Lac Seul; Georgian Bay; or the Ottawa River.

Factors that Ontario Biologist consider are size (large area), unique fish genetics, and an abundance of preferred forage fish. Big waters consistently produce thick-bodied muskie with slow, steady growth rates over a long lifespan. The current world record depending on who you ask came from the Chippewa Flowage. a 69 pound 11 ounce monster. The IGFA recognizes a fish that is smaller.

Mille Lacs Lake produced a Minnesota Record fish a couple of years ago, but the fish was released without being weight verified. This fish weighed around 54 pounds and was 51 inches by 29 inches. The fish still swims the waters of Mille Lacs lake and in about 10 more inches could rival the 69 pound current record.

My bet though if a little known lake in Ontaria. 100,000 acre Lake Manitou. Lake Manitou is really 3 lakes joined by 2 small channels between them that are less than 20 feet wide. However the lakes are joined and each holds BIG Muskie. The most famous is a muskie that was caught back in 1989. This fish was caught during Pike season when Muskie were not legal. It was measured, photographed and released. It was 1/2 inch shorter than the current world record and unbelievably that fish still swims the lake, or did in 2003 when I and a friend last saw it.

The fish was caught in Lake Manitou in the Mosher Bay arm of the lake. At around a half inch growth per year it would currently be around 68 or 69 inches long. Weight would be in the neighborhood of 75 pounds. Yet the lake holds other fish that may well be BIGGER.

Vince Korzinski and Mike Korzinski who work at Green Island Lodge on the lake have both seen muskies that they believe will exceed 70 pounds. NOW.. I know there will be skeptics and people who say that no lake has the kind of forage that would create this kind of monster. Normally you would be correct. Lake Manitou on the other hand has a very large Lake Trout and Whitefish population and those fish are very fatty and promote growth in BIG Muskies.

The lake record Lake Trout is in the 40 pound range. No record of whitefish is kept by the lodge. There are many "Lake Trout Holes" on the lake and the guides regularly see big fish around these "Holes". In 2002 a guest at the Lodge was reeling in a Lake trout of around 8 pounds. I say around, because the only thing he landed was the head of the fish. A Muskie patrolling the "hole" bit the fish in half just behind the gills. The lodge staff told me that he walked around the lodge for 2 days showing off that fish. Imagine the size of the Muskie that it would take to EAT an 8 pound Lake Trout.

Vince also tells the story of 2 old time trappers who lived in the area until the late 90's. During the depression they were trapping the area around Lake Manitou. They took their hides to Fort Frances and portaged their canoes up Rainy Lake to Manitou where they began to troll on their way back to Gold Rock a small community on the lake at the time. Trolling in those days meant pulling a large bait from the back of the canoe as they paddled. Both men claimed to have caught muskie so large they could not get them into the canoe on the way home. They tied them off and made their way to Gold Rock. There they filleted out an cubed out the meat. Vince says that the old men told him they ate muskie meat for 4 months on a daily basis. They estimated the meat they took home at over 100 pounds EACH!..

How big can a muskie get eating Lake Trout? I dont know.. but if I was a betting man, I would bet on Lake Manitou for the next World Record Fish. A picture of the Near World Record graced the cover of Mepps 1991 gear catalog. Here is the picture with the client and Mike Korzinski the guide.

If this fish still swims the waters of Lake Manitou it will definitely beat the 69 pound mark.

Information for this article was provided by Green Island Lodge, and staff.

Fishin.com staff is returning to Green Island this summer and will be using baits purchased from Dave's Bait and Tackle and by Punisher Lures.