In my Sunday's Outdoors Almanac, I write about a kid who caught a 100-pound-plus lake sturgeon...and the photo, to be published with the column, is impressive.
But Jack Naylor of Apple Valley caught quite a fish himself recently, also on the Rainy River on the Minnesota-Ontario border. Naylor, 62, landed a 69-inch fish with a 30-inch girth, estimated to weigh 97 pounds. That, too, would have been a new state record, but by law the fish had to exceed 75 inches to keep.
No matter, Naylor said.
"I wouldn't consider killing and keeping it, even for a state record,'' he said. "These are true dinosaurs. I'm happy the fish is still swimming.''
Naylor caught the hog April 28. He was fishing with 80-pound test and a heavy-action muskie rod. It took 25 minutes to land, and briefly snagged on his anchor line. It took three tries with a big muskie net to land the fish. "That's all part of the excitement.''
Said Naylor: "It was a massive fish.''
Naylor, an avid sturgeon angler, has caught some nice fish before, but nothing this big. The biggest last year was a 59.5-inch fish that weighed 60 pounds.
