A Once In A Lifetime Occurance!

[Woody]

Cody Granley, 16, Brainerd, caught this 51-inch muskie Monday on the Mississippi River in Brainerd. It was Granley's first muskie and the largest fish he's ever caught.


'A once-in-a-lifetime occurrence'  Wed. June 6th, 2007
Mississippi River in Brainerd yields 51-inch muskie for local 16-year-old
By JENNIFER STOCKINGER
Staff Writer for the Brainerd Daily Dispatch

Cody Granley of Brainerd never intended to catch a muskie Monday afternoon, especially on the Mississippi River in the city limits of Brainerd.

The 16-year-old teen not only caught a muskie, but he caught one 51 inches long.

Granley, the son of Nancy and Dale Granley, said he knew that people have caught muskies on the river, but he had never fished for muskies before. He was using a Five of Diamonds Daredevil with hopes of catching northerns.

After about 20 minutes and 30 or so casts, Granley didn't have a choice and hooked his first muskie. It was a 10-minute battle for Granley to reel the muskie in on his 30-pound fishing line.

"I knew there was a muskie there," Granley said. "I knew it right away. I was reeling real fast and saw the big head. Its head was just huge."

Granley didn't have a fishing net with him, so when he pulled the muskie to shore he grabbed it with his hands without getting bit. He called his mother right away so she could meet him at the river to take a photograph of his huge muskie.

"My mom never saw a fish that big," Granley said. "I immediately released the fish after the pictures were taken."

Granley didn't have a scale to weigh the muskie, but thought that it was about 35-40 pounds.

"It still hasn't occurred to me that I caught the fish," said Granley. "I think 55 inches is the state record for muskies or something like that. I know that catching a muskie over 50 inches is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Some people fish their whole lives for muskies and don't catch one."

Granley said the biggest fish he ever caught before the muskie was a 42-inch, fat lake trout on Lake Nipigon in Ontario two years ago.

[iceman]

holy smokes that huge !!