A Utah diver who speared a 32-pound tiger muskellunge is being praised and criticized after the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources announced Wednesday that it had approved the catch as a state spearfishing record.
The tiger muskellunge, or muskie, was speared by Tooele resident Jacob Hansen last month at Fish Lake. It breaks the record of 28 pounds, 15 ounces, which had stood since 2013. That muskie also was speared at Fish Lake, a high alpine fishery in south-central Utah.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources offered its congratulations to Hansen via Facebook, which inspired more than 1,000 users to post comments.
While most were from fellow divers and anglers offering compliments, some were critical of the diver for the harvest of such a beautiful fish.
One commenter wrote, “So much for reproduction from this beautiful female or male,” to which came the response that tiger muskies are sterile hybrids and cannot reproduce.
A few were critical of the method, even though spearing fish, versus angling, is more discriminate.
Regardless of social media commentary, Hansen’s tiger muskie was an impressive-looking specimen, measuring 51 inches.
The tiger muskie is a sterile hybrid cross between a northern pike and a muskellunge, boasting characteristics of both species. A tiger muskie is produced when a male northern pike fertilizes eggs spawned by a female muskellunge.
Tiger muskies are among the most highly prized freshwater game fish in the United States. Most are released, but some are kept for mounting or eating.
For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Assn. lists as the all-tackle angling world record a 51-pound, 3-ounce tiger muskie caught in Michigan in 1919.
That record, seemingly, will never be broken.
–Image showing Jacob Hansen with 32-pound tiger muskie is courtesy of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
