Four year old boy lands Monster Musky
A four-year-old Phillips boy, Josh Lemke, caught a whopper 46 1/2-inch, 24-pound, 10-ounce Monster Musky on the Chippewa Flowage on Sunday, June 21.
The boy was accompanied by his parents, and three older brothers ranging up to 7 years old in the boat. It was the first time he had ever tried using a standard musky rod and bait casting outfit.
Casting a Topper Stopper no more than 15 feet over the Cranberry Bar, the boy suddenly found himself doing battle with a big musky which had snatched his lure not far from the boat. The boy’s father, Dennis, had the reel’s drag pre-set to be fairly loose so that a big fish which got on could take off and fight without pulling the boy out of the boat.
Josh just hung onto the rod and kept reeling while the big musky had its way. He fought the fish primarily by himself, getting minimal help from his parents, who at times helped by holding the boy’s rod butt while he reeled.
After his father netted the monster musky, the boy’s mother said that if the fish were bigger than Josh, he could keep and mount the fish. Sure enough, the boy stands a compact 41 inches tall, while his fish measured 46 1/2 inches.
When asked if he is going to go out and get a bigger one, an enthusiastic Josh eagerly smiled and gave a confident “Yeah!”
The family lives on Sioux Lake near Phillips, so the children have all been brought up on the water and have been fishing since they were old enough to hold a rod.
