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83-year-old lands record muskie on Lake St. Clair
October 16, 2003
BY ERIC SHARP
FREE PRESS OUTDOORS WRITER
Ten muskellunge already had come over the transom of Bill Maertens' boat, 10 of the 14 that had struck lures trolled behind his 27-foot Tiara, Muskie Baby.
Dave Drewek, Maertens' across-the-street neighbor in Harrison Township, had fought and landed most of those fish. But when a rod went off for the 15th time, it was on the side of the boat where the 83-year-old owner was sitting, and Maertens bounced out of his seat and grabbed it.
Call it fate, call it chance, but the 51-inch fish that grabbed the nine-inch chocolate perch Nils lure last Thursday was a 40-pound, 11-ounce muskellunge -- the biggest ever recorded from Lake St. Clair.
And it was only fitting that it was landed by a man who probably has fished the lake for these oversized pike longer than any other living angler.
"I think God must have had a hand in it," said Maertens, a World War II Army veteran who holds five European battle stars. "I had told Dave that we were going to make him land the fish, but when that last one went off, I just jumped up and grabbed it."
Lake St. Clair muskie fishing has been red hot this year, with numerous 35-pound fish weighed and released by tournament anglers and charter boat captains. Many veteran fishermen were predicting that someone would break the Michigan-Ontario Muskie Club record of 39 pounds, 4 ounces, and that it would happen in October or November, when the fish were on a feeding binge to prepare for winter.
That prediction came true on the Canadian side of the waters called the dumping grounds. The fish was weighed on two certified scales, one of which read 40-13 and the other 40-9, so the deep-bellied giant will enter the club and state record books at a compromise of 40-11.
Maertens, a retired bricklayer who joined the muskie club in 1960, usually fishes with his twin brother, George; his girlfriend, Rose Marie Carroll, and friend Charlie Brown. In 30 trips this season the team has landed and released 175 muskies.
"We average about three trips every two weeks," Maertens said. "We don't go out when it's rough. That's not much fun."
In 1970-74, Maertens' boat caught, tagged and released a total of 275 muskellunge, he said.
"We were one of the first to start catch-and-release fishing," Maertens said. "One fish we caught in Lake St. Clair was caught two years later in southern Lake Huron. Two years after that, it was caught again in St. Clair and it weighed 20 pounds.
"Back then, people used to kill a lot of 20-pound fish. That was before we increased the size limits. A 20-pounder was a trophy then, and a 30-pounder was the fish of a lifetime. This summer, people were catching 30-, 35-pound fish every day, sometimes two or three of them.
"Catch-and-release is what has made the fishing so great here, that and the zebra mussels clearing the water. Muskies are sight-feeders, and they've benefited from it."
October 16, 2003
BY ERIC SHARP
FREE PRESS OUTDOORS WRITER
Ten muskellunge already had come over the transom of Bill Maertens' boat, 10 of the 14 that had struck lures trolled behind his 27-foot Tiara, Muskie Baby.
Dave Drewek, Maertens' across-the-street neighbor in Harrison Township, had fought and landed most of those fish. But when a rod went off for the 15th time, it was on the side of the boat where the 83-year-old owner was sitting, and Maertens bounced out of his seat and grabbed it.
Call it fate, call it chance, but the 51-inch fish that grabbed the nine-inch chocolate perch Nils lure last Thursday was a 40-pound, 11-ounce muskellunge -- the biggest ever recorded from Lake St. Clair.
And it was only fitting that it was landed by a man who probably has fished the lake for these oversized pike longer than any other living angler.
"I think God must have had a hand in it," said Maertens, a World War II Army veteran who holds five European battle stars. "I had told Dave that we were going to make him land the fish, but when that last one went off, I just jumped up and grabbed it."
Lake St. Clair muskie fishing has been red hot this year, with numerous 35-pound fish weighed and released by tournament anglers and charter boat captains. Many veteran fishermen were predicting that someone would break the Michigan-Ontario Muskie Club record of 39 pounds, 4 ounces, and that it would happen in October or November, when the fish were on a feeding binge to prepare for winter.
That prediction came true on the Canadian side of the waters called the dumping grounds. The fish was weighed on two certified scales, one of which read 40-13 and the other 40-9, so the deep-bellied giant will enter the club and state record books at a compromise of 40-11.
Maertens, a retired bricklayer who joined the muskie club in 1960, usually fishes with his twin brother, George; his girlfriend, Rose Marie Carroll, and friend Charlie Brown. In 30 trips this season the team has landed and released 175 muskies.
"We average about three trips every two weeks," Maertens said. "We don't go out when it's rough. That's not much fun."
In 1970-74, Maertens' boat caught, tagged and released a total of 275 muskellunge, he said.
"We were one of the first to start catch-and-release fishing," Maertens said. "One fish we caught in Lake St. Clair was caught two years later in southern Lake Huron. Two years after that, it was caught again in St. Clair and it weighed 20 pounds.
"Back then, people used to kill a lot of 20-pound fish. That was before we increased the size limits. A 20-pounder was a trophy then, and a 30-pounder was the fish of a lifetime. This summer, people were catching 30-, 35-pound fish every day, sometimes two or three of them.
"Catch-and-release is what has made the fishing so great here, that and the zebra mussels clearing the water. Muskies are sight-feeders, and they've benefited from it."
