Huge 'Tonka Muskie????

[GotOne]

The two pictures I have are time stamped 13:49 and 13:50. If the time and date stamp are correct, he's legal! Mille Lacs or Minnetonka?

[TProGuy]

The bottom picture on page one is indeed stamped 13:50...but look at the date, it says 01/13/08 making it illegal if he indeed kept the fish and his date/time stamp is accurate.

[fishgutz77]

this was emailed to me the next day and I confirmed with freind of the angler @ 52 inches

[Sandmannd]

 Originally Posted By: Wallabee

The two pictures I have are time stamped 13:49 and 13:50. If the time and date stamp are correct, he's legal! Mille Lacs or Minnetonka?

Those would be the time stamps in military (1:49 & 1:50 PM). I don't see why you would ever keep a fish that size. Take a pic or two and have a replica made if you want to mount it. Non the less, would be a blast to catch anytime of the year.

[Black_Bay]

I've very skeptical of the photo. The lines around the fish are too sharp especially the left pectoral fin on the first photo. I'm calling it a good fake.

[picksbigwagon]

I recieved these pictures last week from a friend at work. There were 4 pictures total including one that had 6 or 8 auger holes in the ice in a straight line and they revived the fish and put it back. I will see if I can get those pictures again.

[guitarcher]

I hate to rain on anybody's parade, but I am an expert on digital imagery. My conclusion is that the pictures are, if not fake, at least embellished. On the first pic, look at the third finger on the anglers left hand. You can see a finger underneath(behind) the glove. I thought it might be a mark of some kind on the fish, but it is not there on the second pic. Also on both pics, look at the tail. It is a sharp edge of white at the tip and this is where the fin becomes semi transparent.

Kudos to the photoshop artist, but it's not quite there.

[guitarcher]

Sorry, not the tail, the top pectoral fin has white around it.

Guitarcher

[AceintheHole]

Look at the fins they are different. makes you think

[bigbritt]

I hate to rain on anybody's parade, but I am an expert on digital imagery. My conclusion is that the pictures are, if not fake, at least embellished. On the first pic, look at the third finger on the anglers left hand. You can see a finger underneath(behind) the glove. I thought it might be a mark of some kind on the fish, but it is not there on the second pic. Also on both pics, look at the tail. It is a sharp edge of white at the tip and this is where the fin becomes semi transparent.

that isnt a "finger" its the animal's anal fin and the white around the fins is ice and frost which happens when a fish is out of water for too long in the winter....dont know why that is so hard to beleive....lots of big fish in tonka, just wish that fella knew the season was closed and put her back quickly.

[wsptbone]

The fish is real. A good friend of mine is his neighbor. He saw the fish and took pics.(not the same pics as posted here). Not sure if it was released or not but it was caught on Tonka, upper lake.

[Maximum12]

Someday, someplace on FM, someone will post a picture of a big fish & no one, not even an "expert", will claim that it's a fake. Or perhaps the Virgin Mary will appear in the background holding a date stamp & a sign reading "Yes, this picture is real. Bless you all."

Yeesh. Why is the reaction so often negative?

[Lowblazah]

 Originally Posted By: Maximum12

Yeesh. Why is the reaction so often negative?

Jealousy...tis easy for someone to not believe than to give credit and be happy for the angler.

[bigbritt]

it really is funny isnt it? its not like he said the guy caught loc ness or something.....its a great fish and i bet it was fun to catch....but we also have to think of the new closed season as well.

[Steve Foss]

I'd be pleased as all getout to find this buster on the end of my panfish line, and amazed if I could get it up to the hole, let alone land it.

I'm not overly excited about the vertical hold in one of the photos, which stresses long heavy fish more than horizontal holds, but I've pulled these pictures over to my desktop and gone over them pixel by pixel and I see no evidence of digital manipulation. Upon magnification there are slight irregularities around the edges of the fish, the guy and the house, but these are typical subtle halos created by in-camera sharpening or sharpening in post processing.

Great job on the catch and the drilling of several holes to land and release the fish!

[Black_Bay]

I could give a rats rear if it was the world record. I'm not in the least bit jealous. It's a nice fish and good for him if he did catch it. There was/is something that looked not quite right to me in the photos, especially the vertical hold pic. Maybe it's just the way low resolution digital photos look when blown up.

[picksbigwagon]

Finally got the pictures again, here is the release.

[blackdog1101]

That is awesome. What a great fish. Good on that angler!!

[stop'emfromfloppin]

Well I would say that the picture of the release is fake. If you look at the snow in the upper left corner it does not match the shadowing. Also hole 2 looks to be smaller than hole 4. Just kidding. I love that the first thing that people think on this site is that every picture is fake. I am surprised that people even post pictures anymore. Either people think that the pictures are fake or they look for anything that the person may have done that could be illegal, even if it is all speculation.

Anyways congrats on a great fish. Looks like you did a great job handling the fish.

[bigbritt]

where those holes punched before the fish was caught? i am just worried that it was intentionally caught.....at least she was put back though.

[stop'emfromfloppin]

Tonka Muskie my last post was for people like you. I cant believe that you would think that. Why not just say thank for working so hard to revive the fish. It is great that someone else will have a chance to catch that monster again.

[blackdog1101]

Does anyone know what the angler used to catch the fish? Rod or tip up, jig, bait, etc??

[ameyers41]

Blackdog - My guess would be a medium chicken or small baby. That thing is a beast!

[IndyAngler]

The fish measured 54 inches weighed 38 pounds was caught on a tip up and YES it was released. The fish of a life time!!