odd?

[fish1000]

paul please respond to this soon i was on eagle lake and caught a 179 pound muskie is that a glitch

[paleodust]

I hope you released it. They have to be over 200 lbs. to keep them on that lake.

[reelfish074]

Are you sure it wasn't 17.9 pounds? I doubt it was in the hundreds because it would have snapped your line instantly
Also, muskie only get to about 50 pounds I think.

[paul]

If it really said that, yes, that would be a bug. Otherwise perhaps the decimal point didn't show? If that happens again please take a screen shot when you've got the fish.

In some update I plan to add white sturgeon, for which that weight would be fairly common. Part of the work for me there is to change the action and pose of landing a fish. There's no hoisting those things up by lip-locking or grabbing around the body. In fact in most cases you're not allowed to remove the big ones from the water at all. You bend over, unhook them or cut the line, and just enjoy the sight of them. =)

Sorry for the late reply - I'm traveling this week.

Paul

[paleodust]

I've caught a couple "baby" white sturgeons before (in the 40"+ range) and they were really strong. I'd love to tie into one of the giants!

[reelfish074]

Around here we have shovelnose sturgeon and lake sturgeon. One state to the east there are pallids though. Last summer I caught a tiny (like, 1.5 lb's and 18") shovelnose out of the minnesota river. It would be great fun to catch a giant white sturgeon.

[paul]

The big white sturgeon are a real rush to tangle with alright. I know a simulation won't ever compare to the real thing, but I intend to get as close to it as I can. I've fished for them only once, but with a guy who really knew them and the river. I was really fortunate to catch a 9 footer and a 12 footer, and if I can get even a little bit of that thrill into the game, it will be worth the effort. I want to fish for them again someday, and while that may not happen for a few more years, getting them in VRS will happen sooner.

One mistake I made on the 9 footer was to let my bass and pike experience overrule common sense. With a bass or other typical game fish, you can thumb the spool of a baitcast reel to put a little extra resistence on a fish and slow it down during a run. It's often easier to do a little extra braking that way rather than tighten the drag temporarily. Not a good idea with a fish over 100 pounds that's blasting away at full speed, it turns out. I burned a blister into my thumb instantly and I'm sure the fish never noticed any extra resistence.

Paul