# World Record Muskie



## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

The Columbus Dispatch

*Group questions legitimacy of record muskie from 1949 * 

Tuesday, December 06, 2005
By Robert Imrie ASSOCIATED PRESS 



HAYWARD, Wis.  The legend of fishing great Louis Spray, who in 1949 caught a muskellunge that the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame here honors as the worlds largest, is under attack. 

Big time. 

A group of fishermen based in Illinois wants Sprays fish added to the list of muskie crimes of the century. The fishermen say the muskie  listed at 69 pounds, 11 ounces  couldnt have weighed that much and say Spray, who some call the Babe Ruth of muskie anglers, "perpetrated a fraud of historic proportions." 

"We hope that at the end of this process, basically the brass ring of this sport is going to be untarnished once and for all," said Rich Delaney, a teacher in Oak Park, Ill., and president of the World Record Muskie Alliance. 

Sprays muskie  one of a whopping 4,000 records involving 125 different fish species recognized by the Hall of Fame  is highly coveted in northern Wisconsin, where fishing is as much a part of culture as snow in wintertime. 

Delaney acknowledges the area is "probably loath" to see an attack on Sprays muskie. 

"You might even compare it to a story like Paul Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox. Its somewhere between fact and legend," the English and social studies teacher said. 

In a 93-page report submitted to the Hall of Fame board, Delaneys group argues that Sprays muskie is significantly smaller than he claimed. The report makes the case that Spray was an "incredible cheat" who figured out a way during lean economic times to turn the large fish he caught into "cold, hard cash." 

"It is almost comical to note that Spray even lied in claiming three record muskies on his tombstone," the report says. "At the time of his death, Spray was credited with only two." 

Emmett Brown, executive director of the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame, said the protest of the record will be reviewed in the next few weeks. 

Sprays nephew, Charlie Ross, a 54-year-old muskie fishing guide and store owner in Rhinelander, said he was befuddled by the attack on his uncles world record but has heard critics before. 

"I think a lot of it is just jealousy," Ross said, describing Spray as a fishing fanatic. 

John Dettloff, a resort owner, is a member of the Hall of Fame board that will review the fish protest  and also the author of a book about Spray. 

"There always has been a few doubters of his fish and there always will be," Dettloff said. "There is a lot of jealousy in the sport of muskie fishing. I can guarantee you that." 

If Sprays muskie is disqualified, a 67½-pounder caught in July 1949 by Cal Johnson, a one-time outdoors writer, would become the record. 

The World Record Muskie Alliance hired a Canadian company to analyze photographs of Sprays muskie  the mount of it was destroyed in a fire in 1959. The study, which compared Sprays known height and the fishs reported 63½-inch length, concluded the fish weighed no more than about 55 pounds, suggesting Spray filled it with perhaps ice or sand before it was weighed. 

"This science gets used in courts of law," Delaney said. 

The World Record Muskie Alliance, formed two years ago, contends that Spray  who was 84 and forced to use a wheelchair because of arthritis when he committed suicide in Arizona in 1984  even persuaded a taxidermist to make the fish longer. 

Sprays fish was the worldrecord muskie from 1949 to 1957, when a muskie caught by Art Lawton of New York in the St. Lawrence River got the honor. Sprays fish got the title back in 1994 when an investigation by Dettloff, now president of the Hall of Fame board, proved the size of Lawtons fish was exaggerated. 

Delaney says many muskie fishermen believe the museum is partial to Hayward records and that Dettloff failed to give Sprays fish the same scrutiny as others when it regained its standing as the world record. 

Dettloff denies the accusation. 

"That fish was extremely scrutinized and looked at and scoped over by every muskie fisherman who was in awe of it and all that doubted it," he said. 


Copyright © 2005, The Columbus Dispatch


----------



## ParmaBass (Apr 11, 2004)

That's the first time I've seen that pic. That doesn't look like a 69lb. Musky to me. I saw my Dad holding a 55lb Musky using the same pose, and that fish pictured isn't 14 pounds bigger. It's funny they waited over 50 years to call Bull****.


----------



## Master Angler (May 26, 2004)

I am highly suspect of most older records. They should reset them all to 1950 on and only recognize records that followed modern measurement standards. The longest standing freshwater record in not LM bass but perch. Supposed 5 lber in 1864 - yea right.


----------



## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

I gott agree, I dont think thats a 70# fish (69.9#), but I guess I could be wrong.


----------



## midoh39 (May 8, 2005)

I think i could be a myth because a twenty five pound muskie looks huge from a camera.but what do i know it could be real it could not.


----------



## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

The thing you guys are overlooking is that Louis Spray (the record holder) was 7 foot tall and weighed 350#. Any fish would look small beside him. Judging from the picture I have to agree that the fish does not look any larger than many other pictures of fish in the 50-60# range.


----------



## midoh39 (May 8, 2005)

i didnt know he was that tall


----------



## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

If they keep discrediting these records pretty soon Joe D. Lycons fish will be the record! LOL


----------



## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Boy to be so old he sure knew how to have a picture taken. Take alook at the depth between him & the fish. His left hand is pushing out, which makes the fish look larger espically when his body is in the background. I thought only Catfishermen did that!

Whatever it is, it's the CURRENT worls record & one hell of a catch. Rather than getting it discredited, lets all try & get a bigger one & wipe away ALL doubts.


----------



## esoxhunter (Apr 7, 2004)

I really wish somebody would just catch a 70 pounder already and end this. 
I don't believe the Spray record to be legit for one second.
I know there's a 70 swimmin around somewhere in Piedmont


----------



## FutureClassicChamp (Jan 16, 2006)

i dont believe that fish weighs what Spray and his buddies says it did either. i have a feeling the new record will be caught within the next 2 years. coming from georgian bay, wabigoon, eagle lake, or green bay. thall solve all the confusion.


----------



## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

the fish may not have actually weighed 69#, but there were a bunch of witnesses to the weighing & the mount was publicly displayed for years. 

Adding weight to a dead fish is easy, but what about the other dimensions?


----------



## Hook N Book (Apr 7, 2004)

The debate may continue but the record still stands.
Here's the full scoop...!  

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13643426.htm


----------



## FISHONAJ (Oct 25, 2005)

There was even a synopsis in USA Today yesterday or the day before i saw...


----------



## jignut (Feb 14, 2005)

A friend of mine and his brother in law fish Georgian Bay every year.
They were there 6 years ago when there was a survey being conducted by the natural resources department division. A muskie was netted, measured, and weighed at 96 pounds, and released.


----------



## duckhound (Apr 10, 2004)

It really bothers me to see long standing records attacked. Especially when the record holder is no longer around to protect themselves. As previously mentioned, someone just needs to catch a bigger one. I can't remember what percentage it is (I think it's over 50%), but many fish records have been broken in the past 20 years.
It also bothers me that the record challenger would play politics in suggesting that the relative area they are in is part of the reason to keep the record standing. So What!!
My guess is that the next one will come from a 8 year old kid with a zebco 202 and fiberglass rod fishing with a live nightcrawler (LOL - wouldn't that be great!!!)


----------

