Amish Fishermen Caught & Kept a Giant 40-Pound Muskie and Some Are Not Happy About It
A pair of videos have been making the rounds showing an Amish fisherman and a boy – who I would guess is his son – hauling away a giant fish after a successful catch. The fish is a muskellunge, better known as a “muskie” – and you can tell by the way the man is lugging it on his back that it is a hefty load.
An instagram page called jdk fishing captions it “I didn’t film this clip but it’s getting passed around locally, it’s from about 3 weeks ago.” Not sure where exactly, but the account is tagged to a Pennsylvania location.
When asked on video, he guesses it is “close to 40 pounds” with a smile on his face. No matter what people have to say about it, this will be a “fish story” to remember for years to come, one that he shared with his son.
This particular fish species in the fishing community is not one that people typically catch and eat (though you can, and it’s apparently legal). It’s one that sport fishermen go after – an elusive breed that is typically caught and then released.
This Amish man and presumably his son had other plans. This one is heading home to become dinner. Muskies are certainly edible but as I understand, are for various reasons, including conservation, not that often eaten. I’ve never had muskie, so no idea how it tastes, but I imagine if you fry anything in enough breading and butter it will do the job.
Some Have A Problem With This
So some in the fishing community are apparently pretty unhappy about this, though others are taking the Amish man’s side. This FB post gathered a lot of the debate in one place:
Have you seen the video going around of the Amish guy eating a 40-pound muskie? States and nonprofits spend a pile of money stocking these fish, muskie guys spend years chasing one that size, and then here comes a guy in suspenders turning it into a Friday night fish fry.
I’m not even saying he broke the law. If it was legal, it was legal. But there’s something painful about watching one of the most prized freshwater fish in the country get treated like a bluegill from a farm pond.
— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor writer | Owner, DeLong Lures
Among the most popular responses, here’s one taking an opposing view:
No, if he’s doing that to feed his family, I see no issue at all sports Fisherman probably killed 10 times more than anybody who’s actually harvesting musky because most people aren’t eating them.
And also:
Nothing wrong with what he did. We all place different values on things what some see as a trophy he saw as food. Same thing with deer hunting some say let go let grow others say if it’s brown it’s down as long as they aren’t breaking any laws it’s nobody’s business but there’s.
There are also undertones of “sports fishermen vs. catch-to-eat fishermen” here:
They say Musky tastes best if you marinate it in the tears of sport fisherman for at least 24hrs
Conservation Concerns
This excerpt from a post at Tennessee Musky Fishing I think captures the gist of the issue:
Musky are not harvested or eaten for several reasons. Chief among them is their slow growth and extended time needed to reach sexual maturity.
A trophy-class musky, measuring forty inches or more, is over a decade old and just entering its prime reproductive years. Removing even a single musky from a body of water can have serious, long-lasting impacts on the overall population.
The post also comments on the protective attitude of dedicated musky fishermen, which is what I think is coming through in the original Facebook post above:
Musky anglers, while sometimes perceived as condescending or overzealous about safe handling and catch-and-release practices, have their hearts in the right place. Every musky plays a critical role in its environment and the sustainability of the species.
Dedicated musky anglers release all muskies caught, even those classified as legal to keep. This practice is considered mandatory across the sport. Anglers who catch a musky, regardless of its size, are expected to release it to preserve the population.
An outdoors-themed site named Whiskey Riff also adds this on how difficult such a fish is to actually catch:
They’re nicknamed the “fish of 10,000” casts because they’re elusive, especially a beast like the one he caught. Most muskie anglers have a certain reverence for the species… take a picture and release. Maybe get a replica made if you have a true trophy.
This Amishman might have mounting a trophy in mind, but I would guess – and the text on the video suggests – that it is going home to the dinner table.
If that’s correct, you can’t say it’s not a practical use of the fish. People’s objections here don’t seem to be over legality, but over something more like custom or “fisherman’s ethics”.
What do you think?
Yes, it is legal to catch and keep.
He is going to eat the fish. So that is not wasteful.
The problem I have is with some of the catch and release people who target this fish.
This fish is very sensitive to stress such as: Warmer waters. Bodies that can not handle their own weight when out of the water. The fish must be held horizontally, in the water, until it is capable to swim again. Just a few seconds out of water can kill them.
Basically, some of the catch and release people are willing to have this fish suffer and possible die, just for a photo and bragging rights.
Whereas this guy is going to feed his family with it. Which is what nature intended it be used for.
40-Pound Muskie
Don’t believe everything you see/read. Clever editing tricks can make things appear a certain way and challenge our vision/perception of reality. If it is a real fish, and it is legal to catch it, then I say good for him! Better to feed it to your family than stuff it and hang it up as a so-called “trophy.” Besides, it’s not like this sort of thing happens every day. Why not choose to be happy for the man??
Huge Muskie catch in PA
Okay, so the “sport” fisherman are griping about not releasing a monster fish back into the environment. Why? Simply to be allowed to support a fish population that is apparently supposed to exist for the amusement of sport fishermen? Sounds like sour grapes clothed in pseudoconservationist gobbledygook.
Guy beat you at your own game and can do whatever he likes with his catch.
And, yes, it really IS just a whopper luegill after all.
The fish
IDK, I don’t think I would get a heap of pleasure out of watching some fish flop around dying, but I guess as long as he uses it as food it’s passably OK by me although I understand muskies are quite bony. There is just something “unseemly” about “sport” hunting and fishing IMHO.
Catching and filet!
No ethical Hunter would catch a deer or other wildlife with a hook and then drag it over to him so he can release the hook and let the deer go again. Yet fisherman day after day call themselves sportsman when they inflict pain and suffering on a fish just to pull it into a boat or ashore and take a picture perhaps and then release the fish. How many of those fish die? Particularly here in salt waters of Florida we have fisherman catching and releasing fish that are not good to eat such as the tarpon. Many times they will play the fish till it’s tired and then it swims slowly as it gets close to the boat and a shark will swim up toward the boat and take a bite out of the hooked fish and kill it before they manage to release the hook from the tarpon. So the fish goes to waste, they were not going to eat it anyway, it’s merely making themselves feel good about fighting an animal. And oh yes all the tackle shops and the sports industry will promote this type of wasteful fishing because they’re making money off of it. As noted above one poster mentioned that muskies can often die even if released so it’s better to put it to good use and eat it and not go fishing at all if you’re just trying to play games with wildlife by torturing and releasing.
God put the creatures here on Earth for us to use to our benefit but not to play games with or simply to make money off of them.
They are so foolish. The Amish live off the land for much of their food.
What do you think your mother and fathers did and for-fathers.. I just think they are
mad they didn’t catch it. I bet that guy just might have 8-12 kids to feed. So much
BS in this world today.
Got some Tartar sauce?
I have no problem with him taking it to eat. Not everyone is a “sport” fisherperson. He is very much entitled to do as he feels fits if it was a legal catch. As a hunter myself, yes…I love to tag the monster buck, but not going to pass on a respectable 3yo or big doe just because they aren’t trophys.
These sport fishers need to get over themselves. They aren’t angry that hes taking it, they are bent because HE caught it!
Btw, when I do fish…I’m fishing for dinner, not bragging rights!
Muskie
Do people realize how many fish that musky eats in a day, I’m sure alot, so what’s the problem
Not Fishy
If it’s that big, it probably had many chances to reproduce. And therefore, has done its job as a species. I don’t think it’s the Amish that are depleting our national resources, just by the fact that there aren’t that many of them compared to the rest of the English population. I’m sure the family had a big feast over that one, and didn’t waste a scrap.