When did Will Sampson catch the 43-inch muskie?
What they thought was an ordinary day of fishing turned out to be something incredible for Will Sampson and his friends. Will Sampson and his friend went out for a full day of fishing in the Toronto Harbour on Sunday and reeled in something unexpected.
“We were just rolling along. Got a couple [of pike] right off the bat, and as we were jumping around to spots, and when this fish hit–like judging by the weight and how it hit–I can tell it was a good fish,” Sampson tells CTV News Toronto.
“I just assumed it was a big pike, obviously.”
As Sampson reeled in the fish, he initially thought it was caught in the line with how much weight there was. Then he noticed what color it was.
“Once I saw it was a muskie, my knees immediately became like jello. They just, like, buckled,” he said.
A muskie, formally known as muskellunge, is a type of fish related to northern pike and is typically a light silver, green or brown color with stripes. The northern pike tends to be darker with lighter markings.
According to Will Sampson, he had caught muskies before but never in his wildest dreams he expected to catch one in the waters off Toronto.
Sampson estimates the catch was 43-and-a-quarter inches and weighed just under 20 pounds, though he adds he didn’t have the necessary equipment to safely weigh the fish. While it’s a decent size, he notes muskies can reach the mid-50-inch range.