Confirmed 49.5" Musky Ends Dispute

Day one of Musky Madness was exciting and somewhat controversial, given the variables associated with a catch & release tournament. Reported catches began with the Cross family's 34" (which was not counted) and a 36" which was the leader for a moment.

It was quickly surpassed by Steve Pettry's 45" beauty.

That's where it got interesting. Brian Bernhardt, relegated to fishing alone because his partner became unavailable, hooked into a large fish. During the battle, the Binder party was close enough to assist and quickly began filming the exchange using Brian's DVD film-making equipment. The fish was successfully landed but the anglers could not arrive at a consensus measurement. They estimated it was anywhere from 48 to 50 inches!

Brian Bernhardt

NOTE: Blogger now allows video, therefore, be sure to check the posts late next week.

So we were faced with a dilemma as to who the real leader was.

That all changed once the Chieffo team reported in. John Shantz was declared the uncontested winner of day one with a solid 49.5 inch cow! The team reported that they had hooked and lost 2 other fish as well. For the day, they reported a total of 8 fish brought to the boat between the catch, the lost fish, and follows.

The weather yesterday was a comfortable 70° and partly cloudy. Today's forecast calls for cloudy with southeast winds. Surface temperature is approximately 67°. Keep checking for updates to this post (pictures) and new posts of today's action!