Matt Sopron caught his lifetime muskie, a 50-incher, Sept. 13 from the Chain O’Lakes while fishing with a buddy and T-Bone Guide Service guides Matt Madlener and Capt. Chris Taurisano.
Fifty inches is the magic mark in muskie fishing, whether in Illinois or Canada.
“I’ve been fishing with Matt for years now,” the South Sider Sopron emailed. “I caught a 37-inch musky at 6 a.m. Then I was handed the Lee Lures Ninja to give it a try. I cast it for about 15 minutes when all of a sudden something came at it. I yelled, ‘Look!’ Matt yelled, ‘Keep reeling.’
“As soon as I saw the lure 10 feet from the boat there was the fish behind it. It pounded the lure maybe 6 feet from the boat. I set the hook and Matt instantly netted it. I thought it was around 45 or 46 inches, which would of been my biggest musky. Chris grabbed it out of the net and put it on the board. I looked down and saw it was about 50 inches! Matt said, ‘Hold on,’ while he got the fish to relax and it stretched to 50 inches! We took a few pics and released her.”
In Illinois, where muskies were introduced in 1975, the Holy Grail of 50 inches wasn’t met until the late 1990s. Until recently, it was rare enough that multiple people tracked 50-inch muskies caught in Illinois.
Curiously, the heaviest verified muskie in Illinois — 43 pounds, 5 ounces, netted by biologist Mike Garthaus in a 2005 spring muskie survey at Evergreen Lake near Bloomington — wasn’t 50 inches, measuring 493⁄4 inches.
That 50-inch mark crosses borders.
Jerry Borst of West Chicago caught his longest muskie of 53 inches in early September while trolling a 9-inch Ernie on Lake Nipissing in Canada.
“I have caught 50’s before, probably 10 or so but its not easy moving up the ladder,” emailed Borst, a multi-species anglers who has fished muskies for 28 years.
Adult hunting camp
Illinois HUNT CAMP, a twist on hunting camp, is Saturday 4-9 p.m. at Deacon’s Bar in Wauconda. There’s food, education, games, art and prizes. Details at publish.illinois.edu/huntcampil/.
Stray Cast
The last week in Chicago sports felt like the time I was skunked on opening day of dove hunting.
