BEHEMOTH WV MUSKIE CAUGHT

(11/13/2007)

A giant muskie has been caught in Stonecoal lake near Weston. It won't make it into the record books because it wasn't caught in sport, but discovered entangled in a net. Bret Preston, an official with the Division of Natural Resources, says two state workers found the 53.875-inch-long, 46-pound muskie. They attempted to revive the fish, to no avail. Preston says the fish's teeth probably got caught in the net while attacking a smaller fish trapped inside. The muskie would have broken the state record by more than an inch and would have come within 3 3/4 pounds of the weight record. The previous record for length was a 52.7-inch-long muskie caught in Stonecoal Lake in 2003. The weight record belongs to a 49.75 pounder caught in Stonecoal Lake in 1997. The previous record for muskie length (52.5 inches) was established by Lester Hayes in the Elk River in 1955.

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