It looks like there is a new IGFA all-tackle world record muskie inbound!
The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) recently announced that Art Weston, famous in fishing circles for his aptitude for catching record fish, landed a huge 54.33 inch (138 centimeter) muskie on Lake Mille Lacs in Garrison, Minnesota on Oct. 29 along with Nolan Sprengler. The fish will almost certainly crush the current all-tackle length division record.
“After recording the length on his official IGFA measuring device, Art was able to release the fish safely. The record is currently pending and under review,” according to the IGFA.
Weston is certainly no stranger to the record books; he currently has a stunning 39 current IGFA records under his belt, including this one, and has logged 79 total records in his lifetime.
NIGHT FISHING FOR RECORD MUSKIES
Outdoor Life magazine reports Weston submitted the required information on his catch to the IGFA on Oct. 30 and that he traveled to Minnesota specifically to fish with Nolan Sprengler as his guide — Sprengler broke the state record for muskie back in 2021, also on Lake Mille Lacs. The two set out specifically on a catch-and-release mission for a giant muskie, since IGFA regs for length records allow anglers to quickly release a fish after the required measurements, documentation, and photos are taken.
Their strategy was to hit the water at night, because big muskies sure can be lure shy for one reason or another. On their second night, Weston connected with the beast they were looking for around midnight. He was running a Bondy Royal Orba lure about 30 yards from the boat, according to OL.
Instead of trying to play the fish and wear it out, Sprenger advised Weston to crank the fish in as fast as possible with his 9’3” Thorne Brothers Stealth rod fitted with an Abu Garcia Revo reel on the maximum drag setting.
“It was like a Mack truck grabbed my lure and headed the opposite direction,” Weston told OL. “I think I let out an audible ‘Oof’ sound when it struck.”
The strategy worked. Sprenger had the net on the massive fish in 30 seconds to a minute after Weston set the hook.
When they measured the catch, it came in at 57.5 inches to the tip of the fish’s tail and 54.33 inches (138 cm) to the fork of its tail. That last one is the measurement that counts and it should just beat out the current all-tackle length record of 135 cm caught in New York.
LONG LIST OF RECORDS
Currently, in addition to the pending world record muskie, Weston holds length world records for nine species: speckled peacock bass (90 cm), dorado (2 records 98 cm and 103 cm), longnose gar (2 records – 138 cm and 148 cm), spotted bass (40 cm), smallmouth buffalo (65 cm), whiterock bass (62 cm), and sorubim (127 cm).
He also has a record line-class world record 283-pound alligator gar on the books he caught on Sam Rayburn Lake in Texas in September, 2023, which is probably the heaviest freshwater fish ever landed on 6-pound test.
On that trip, Weston was guided by Capt. Kirk Kirkland on the upper reaches of Sam Rayburn near Lufkin, according to the Palestine Herald. The huge gar ate a slab of fresh carp that Weston soaked on the bottom in about 15 feet of water before getting into a three-hour fight with the beast.
Earlier in 2024, Weston caught six more IGFA line-class records (pending) in four days from Kirkland’s boat.
