Shawn Ryley McCardell caught this 53 inches Muskellunge in Northern New Jersey.
Ryley was out fishing with his father and a family friend on a lake in Northern New Jersey on November 15th. Ryley was casting a spinning rod with a swimbait while the boat trolled a live rainbow trout as it went around the lake. After a few passes of the lake Ryley had gotten a follow on his spinning gear and some missed hits on the rainbow. At about 1:15 pm that changed when the fish of a lifetime crushed the rainbow he was trolling. Sheer chaos ensured on the boat as Ryley tried to fight the monster fish. At one point we thought the fish had gotten off when the 3 inch pike bobber came floating to the surface. But it turns out the muskie had ripped the bobber completely off the line. After about a 15 minute battle Ryley managed to steer the fish into the net. We quickly measured the length of the fish, took a few photos and released her to fight another day.