New Wisconsin Record: Giant Muskie Caught and Released in Green Bay

The Perfect Moon Phase and a Record-Breaking Catch

Jeff Van Remortel, a seasoned fishing guide in Wisconsin, has spent 16 years as a full-time fishing and duck-hunting guide in Door County. His experience has taught him that timing is everything when it comes to catching muskies. On June 4, he and his longtime client, Mike Jacoby, were out on Green Bay for a muskie fishing trip. The conditions had been tough in the days leading up to that date, with clear skies and heavy winds making it difficult for fish to bite.

But on that particular morning, the moon phase was just right. Around 8 a.m., the moon was visible, creating a 45-minute window of opportunity. During this time, the fishing action picked up dramatically. Although they didn’t catch many fish, the moment was significant — they landed a 56-inch muskie that would soon be recognized as the new Wisconsin live-release record.

“We made about 20 more casts, and Jacoby caught a 46 [incher],” Van Remortel recalls. “Then, 10 minutes after that, the moon was gone, and we didn’t get another bite all day.” He explains that muskies often have intense feeding windows, especially during the spring and fall seasons. “It’s either feast or famine,” he says. “And that day, for about 45 minutes, it was feast.”

Van Remortel and Jacoby were fishing a large weed flat, with Jacoby casting from one side of the boat and Van Remortel covering the other. Jacoby had just gotten a follow from a 48-inch fish that charged his bucktail but wouldn’t commit. “I was like, ‘Okay, good sign, the moon is coming here,’” Van Remortel says. “I was mid-sentence when this fish crushed me way out on the end of a cast.”

The muskie ate just a couple of cranks into his retrieve. Van Remortel was using a big swimbait, specifically a Swimmin’ Dawg. After unhooking the fish boatside, he and Jacoby swapped rigs. Jacoby then landed his 46-inch muskie shortly after.

Van Remortel was prepared to certify the catch-and-release record, so they followed the proper steps to photograph and measure the fish on a bump board before releasing it back into the lake. According to Van Remortel, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has only been tracking live-release records since 2017. The previous record was a 53-inch muskie. Van Remortel beat that by a few inches, and his fish also had a 26-inch girth, which, while not part of the length-based record, made the fish even more special in his eyes.

He estimates the big female muskie was around 25 years old. “A 56-by-26-inch muskie is a 50-pound-class fish,” he says. “That’s the Holy Grail if you’re a muskie fisherman. And just to catch one that old and that clean — it looked like it had never been touched by a person.”

Van Remortel plans to feature the state-record fish in an upcoming lesson on his educational website, Musky Academy. The site helps anglers learn new tactics and approaches for catching big muskies. He also might have another Wisconsin record to certify soon enough. On September 11, while fishing with another client, they caught a 56-inch fish that tied his catch-and-release record. In previous years, he has caught even longer muskies in Green Bay.

“I told myself years ago that if I ever caught another really, really big one, I would try and get it certified,” Van Remortel says. “It’s also cool, I think, to bring attention to the state’s live-release program and promote catch-and-release in this day and age.”