Twin Cities Man Catches Near-Record Muskie On Bde Maka Ska

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A man caught a near-record muskie in a Minnesota lake earlier this month. The city lake where it happened might surprise you.

"When I saw it in person I was shocked. Yeah, it was crazy," said Craig Pearthree.

He's talking about a crazy big catch on a Twin Cities lake.

"I was in about 45 to 50 feet of water and my rod just bent really, really hard," said Mikhail Pearthree.

That was Mikhail Peartree on Bde Maka Ska earlier this month.

"It felt really pretty heavy when I was reeling it in, like really big, like a monster big," said Mikhail Pearthree.

The monster muskie was 54.5 inches long.

"So like a quarter of it was in the net and then like the other 40 inches of it was outside of the net, so I then had to like force it up, up in the air like that and I got it barely in the canoe," said Mikhail Pearthree.

You heard him right -- he was only in a canoe.

"Obviously he wasn't prepared to catch a trophy like that. He was in a canoe by himself with a small net," said Craig Pearthree.

That's his favorite fishing partner -- his dad.

"He knows what he does, he's an expert fisherman. Yeah, fishing is his passion," Craig Pearthree.

Mikhail Pearthree said it is very important for him to always catch and release but with this fish being so big and him being alone in a canoe he was afraid he was going to tip over. He couldn't revive the fish but since a muskie longer than 54 inches is legal to keep he says he will mount it in his family cabin.