The year was 1924 and President Coolodge had just signed the Indian Citizenship Act which granted citizenship to native Americans living in the U.S.A. Macy's had just held their first Thanksgiving Parade, a U.S Postage Stamp would could you $ .02, and gasoline was $.18 a gallon. And, a guy by the name of Lewis Walker Jr. had just caught the biggest musky any angler had ever caught in the state of Pennsylvania. Lewis was trolling an 8-inch chub on a 42-pound line fitted with a wire leader on Conneaut Lake in Crawford County, PA on September 30, 1924 when a fish struck the bait and a fight ensued. It lasted at least 30 minutes, according to an account provided by Walker to a magazine several years after the battle and catch. Walker won the battle and hauled in a musky that measured 59 inches long and weighed 54 pounds, 3 ounces. To this day, that fish hangs on the wall of the Fish and Boat Commission's Linesville State Fish Hatchery in Crawford County. No one has officially ever caught one bigger anywhere in the State of Pennsylvania in the past century. The fight between the fish and Lewis lasted at least 30 minutes. To this day, that fish hangs on the wall of the Fish and Boat Commission's Lineville State Fish Hatchery in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. So what gives with that record? How has it stood for so long? Well, for one thing...Pennsylvania isn't known or is ideal for muskies. Except in fast-moving western Pennsylvania rivers, natural reproduction of muskies here is minimal at best. In our lakes, it's even worse. So, the only place musket are found in the state are in waters where they are stocked. Musky stocking began in Pennsylvania in the 1890s and was quickly abandoned for decades; then relaunched in 1953, and has been regular ever since. Only about 40,000 fish a year are spread across the entire state. So, there aren't many muskies out there to begin with, and then, to grow large enough to beat the 100-year-old record, an individual musky would have to live a long time. It is said that it would take 17 years for a musky to grow 50 inches, and Walker's fish was 59 inches. On average, muskies in Pennsylvania weigh about 40 pounds and weigh in at 51 inches. It is assumed that Walker's catch was likely well over 20 years old and that's beyond ancient for most wild animals. Now, bigger muskets have been caught elsewhere in the USA with the world-record musky being one that was 69 pounds, 11 ounces and was caught in 1949 in Wisconsin. But the International Game Fish Asso. doesn't recognize that fish because it was shot twice in the head before it was landed. That my fellow fishermen is against the rules! Walker's fish now hangs at the Linesville hatchery where another musky is on the wall that measures 54 5/8 inches and weighs 53 pounds and was caught in 1984 in an experimental fill net on Kinzua Reservoir, Warren County, by two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers biologists. From 2012-22, the biggest musky caught in Pennsylvania was in2014 and that was measured at 52 inches and weighed 50 pounds. It was caught on the Lehigh River by Mr. Frank Smolick. One angler said that they believe that if it were possible for a musky to grow bigger than 54 pounds, 3 ounces is in Pensylvania, I think it would have - and been caught - at some point in the last century. Many believe that the Pennsylvania Musky record is one that will continue to stand forever. You'd have a much better chance of breaking the state's second-best fishing record - the common carp, 52 pounds, caught in the Juniata River in 1962 by George Brown. So...to all my fishing friends...that's what I'm going after the next time I go fishing! And...you'll be there first to see the photograph and read about it. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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