Minnesota man's record-breaking fish certified months after catch and release: 'Still out there'

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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) has certified a state muskellunge fishing record months after it was released back into the wild.

Eric Bakke, an angler from Princeton, Minnesota, caught and released a muskie that was far longer than the width of his shoulders on June 11, from Mille Lacs Lake, a large lake that’s roughly 75 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

The muskie Bakke caught measured 58.25 inches, which beat out Minnesota’s two previous tied records of 57.25-inch muskies, both of which were caught from Lake Vermilion in 2019 and 2021, according to the MDNR’s news release about the new record.

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"To be able to target and catch fish of this caliber has been one of the great passions of my life," Bakke told the MDNR.

Eric Bakke of Princeton, Minnesota, caught and released a 58.25-inch muskellunge in June 2022, which went on to become a state record, accord to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (Photo courtesy Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)

Bakke reportedly caught the muskie while trolling with a foot-long muskie lure. 

When the muskie took the lure, Bakke reeled in the fish for a "minute or two" before his fishing partner, Jon Blood, netted the catch and helped Bakke measure and photograph the muskie, according to the MDNR.

The muskie was reportedly released in less than a minute.

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"In order to catch more and bigger fish you have to put them back: ‘let them go, let them grow,’" Bakke said, in a statement. "This record should and will be broken in the next year or two if we all make the choice to keep all those big fish alive and swimming for the next person to experience and catch a fish of their lifetime."

Bakke told the MDNR that he’s a member of Muskies Inc. – a service-oriented nonprofit that promotes conservation, muskellunge research, hatcheries and good sportsmanship, from its Waukesha, Wisconsin, headquarters.

The MDNR’s state record fish program recognizes catch-and-release anglers and certifies record fish with length measurements. 

The catch-and-release length program "is being cross-promoted with the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame's Master Angler Program, which recognizes 60 fish species," according to the MDNR’s website.

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Meanwhile, catch-and-keep anglers who reel in record fish are certified by length, girth and weight.

"The long-lived muskie is a perfect example of the importance of catch-and-release fishing," wrote Jon Hansen, a fisheries management consultant at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, in an email. "Given it takes decades to reach a trophy size, the widespread adoption of catch-and-release fishing for muskies has been instrumental in moving the bar higher and higher when it comes to growing giant fish." 

Muskellunge, also known as muskie, are a predatory freshwater fish that's native to North America, and is considered the largest member in the pike fish (Esocidae) family. (iStock)

Fox News Digital reached out to Bakke for comment.

"I’d like to say thank you to all of the people who have caught that fish over the past 20-plus years, took care of her and put her back," Bakke told the MDNR. "She is still out there for all of you to go try to catch again."

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The largest caught muskie on record is currently in dispute by fishing historians and is said to be either 69 pounds, 11 ounces or 70 pounds, 10 ounces, depending on which record organization is being cited, according to Great Lakes Now – a regional environmental news and information hub housed and produced by Detroit Public TV.