Vern Evans
Traveling angler and world-record chaser Art Weston is back at it in Minnesota, where he’s been after the fish of 10,000 casts alongside local muskie legend Nolan Sprengeler. On Tuesday, just before midnight, Weston caught and released a true Lake Mille Lacs monster. The 57.5-inch muskie should set a new all-tackle world record in the length division.
Weston, who already has 39 fishing world records to his name, contacted Outdoor Life about his pending world-record catch after submitting the required information to the International Game Fish Association on Oct. 30. He says he’d traveled to Minnesota specifically to fish with Nolan Sprengeler, who’s become a bit of a local legend after breaking the state’s muskie record in 2021. (Sprengeler also caught his state-record muskie from Lake Mille Lacs, but neither angler understandably wanted to share details about where exactly they hooked Weston’s pending record muskie Tuesday night.)
“Nolan and I talked about this before I booked [him as my guide], and our plan was to try for the all-tackle length record,” Weston says. “Nolan is very concerned for the well-being of muskies, and he liked that the length record wouldn’t require us to weigh the fish on land.”
In other words, he explains, they didn’t want to kill a giant muskie, which is one of the most sought after trophy fish in the angling world. IGFA regulations for length records allow anglers to quickly release a fish after measuring, documenting, and photographing it.
Weston says he met up with Sprengeler on Monday. He’d decided that their best chance at catching a monster would be at night, so they headed out on Lake Mille Lacs that evening. No potential records were caught, but Weston got a crash course in night fishing for giants.
“The reason for going out at night is that the biggest muskies are the most lure shy, either because they’ve been caught before or they’re smart enough to recognize an artificial,” Weston explains. “Having never night fished before, it was a wild experience. Casting these massive lures into the darkness and the depths [was] a bit unnerving.”
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Weston was ready for round two the next night, and they hit the water around 6:30 p.m. They fished hard for hours, cycling through Sprengeler’s go-to spots, and Weston finally connected with the fish they were after just before midnight. The muskie hammered his Bondy Royal Orba lure 30 yards out from the boat.
“It was like a Mack truck grabbed my lure and headed the opposite direction,” Weston says. “I think I let out an audible ‘Oof’ sound when it struck.”
Weston says the nerve-wracking battle that ensued was very different from other record fish he’s caught. Instead of playing the muskie and wearing it out, Sprengeler’s strategy was to have Weston crank the monster in as quickly as possible. He was using a stiff, 9-foot 3-inch Thorne Brothers Stealth rod and an Abu Garcia Revo reel cranked to the maximum drag setting.
“It was all about likelihood of success, as the more time you let the fish fight, the more chances it has to get off,” Weston explains. “I did what I was told, just reeled as hard and fast as I could, never ‘pumping’ the rod, just a straight reel under tremendous drag force.”
Sprengeler, meanwhile, stood ready with the landing net and quickly scooped the giant muskie. Weston thinks the whole fight lasted less than a minute, although Sprengeler told him it was closer to 30 seconds.
“We looked at each other and I said, ‘It’s long!’ and of course Nolan said, ‘I know!’ … and then he said, ‘I think it’s the one.’”
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Sprengeler held the massive female muskie while Weston taped it, his IGFA-approved measuring device laid flat on the deck of the boat. They recorded a total length of 57.5 inches to the tip of the fish’s tail and 54.33 inches (138 centimeters) to the fork of its tail, which should be just enough to replace the standing world record. IGFA requires a minimum increase of 2 cm for a new record, and the current all-tackle length world record is a 135-centimeter muskie that was caught in New York.
Working as quickly as possible, they snapped a few photos of Weston holding the fish out of the water. Sprengeler then revived the muskie, holding it upright and allowing it to recover for a few minutes before letting it go.
“She swam near the surface for a few seconds, then went head down and disappeared to live her best life.”
Weston says he’s confident the muskie will break the world record, and he expects to hear back from IGFA within 60 days or so. If approved, it’ll be Weston’s 79th record entry into the IGFA book. About half of those records have been replaced over the years, but 38 are still standing. This includes a 283-plus-pound alligator gar he caught in Texas, which is likely the heaviest freshwater fish ever landed on 6-pound test.
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