This guy caught a 26lb muskie while fishing through the ice for perch in Lake Hopatcong NJ.  Phenomenal fish, can't imagine how excited he was.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100222/UPDATES01/100222104/Man-pulls-monster-musky-from-Lake-Hopatcong

I can only imagine what his tip up was spooled with, #4?  Maybe 6?  Wow!

thats a pretty nice surprise

I had a pickerel last week, thought for sure it was a monster...  When i got to the tipup, it was 3 cranks from coming totally unspooled... pulled in about 40 yards of line, cut 4 of my fingers nicely, fought like crazy.  That was the only fish I caught through the ice that I had to let it pull because I just couldn't get it out...  ended up being like a 3 lb pickerel, fiesty as all hell though.  can't even imagine what this fish was like.

wow just crazy... I remember catching some small ones ice fishing (8-12") and never had a problem... they didn't fight too much, not nearly as much as pike and walleye do

Musky before very lethargic in cold water periods. I've caught a few in late november and early december and the fight just isn't there. These were river muskies too. You turn up the water temps on some of those monsters and the fight is a completely different story!! Trust me on that one! 

Musky before very lethargic in cold water periods. I've caught a few in late november and early december and the fight just isn't there. These were river muskies too. You turn up the water temps on some of those monsters and the fight is a completely different story!! Trust me on that one!

I would totally agree, but on that light of line it is still worth a wow!

Musky before very lethargic in cold water periods. I've caught a few in late november and early december and the fight just isn't there. These were river muskies too. You turn up the water temps on some of those monsters and the fight is a completely different story!! Trust me on that one!

I would totally agree, but on that light of line it is still worth a wow!

Don't get me wrong! I'm not trying to discredit the accomplishment! just saying the fight might not have been as long as you'd think with a ski that size in the cold temps. The best I've done on muskies with light line has been a 33 incher on 10# test. That one took a little while, water temps were somewhere around 50 when I pulled that one off.