The lake is pretty much frozen over from all the web cams i've seen and reports i've been reading elsewhere. I've also heard of some out ice fishing already.

coming back down 169 from hunting yesterday, the garrison access was open, no docks of course. The north end access was iced up. Access near the casino had some ice, but think it would have been manageable. Saw a few boats out there yesterday

IMO Steve or Jason will catch one that will be close or over the state record. Steve had a client last year that may have caught a state record. I think it was 58". The picture is on Steve's site.

What a hog!

The two with clients on his front page were 54" and 56" respectably. The 54" is the one that was on a scale and bounced between 52 and 54lbs, 2 years ago. The 56 was this summer early.

I can see Steve catching it. As far as Hammernick goes, he left Mille Lacs this year for some smaller lakes with smaller fish.

IMO, i'm gonna get one too!! ... and she'll never leave the water... well... maybe (hopefully) on her own a few times. ... but not by my hand. it's going to be a fluorescent pink-purple/black full size ''Ride'' that beats her at sunrise.

The 56 1/2 x 25 is a little over 44lbs. A monster without a doubt but still 10 lbs away from the record.

the guides do put alot of time on the water and have a better chance but the record still goes to the person that is in the right spot at the right time. Mille Lacs will kick out a state record that some one will keep but I don't think it will be the first one. IMO there are 5 lakes with very stong potential to kick out the state record very soon. Probably 10 lakes in fact. But then again, I thought that is was going to happen last year and it didn't.

I'm with 10,000 Casts on the number of lakes with potential. It's not if a record exists, it's a matter of it being caught, IMO. No simple task obviously.

The DNR announced that tullibee numbers are way up so I'm betting that the chances of a record are getting better on Mille Lacs. Those oily morsels can help pack on the pounds.

The Tullibies and Perch are way up. It's a Muskies dream buffet out there for sure. The state record has already been caught in Mille Lacs, I'm pretty sure of it. Those people just didn't want to kill the fish. I sit here wondering if I would have the heart to keep it. I use to say that I would keep it for sure but now I don't think that I could do it and alot of people feel that same way. If we had a way for people to register a record and release it, I think that the record would have been broken 3 years ago maybe more (from Mille Lacs). I know that all the guides have the DNR's # on speed dial and the officers in the ML area must be waiting for that call every fall but who knows...

The fish in the upper 40 low 50 pound range that are being caught out of their and released must be getting bigger. They don't just disapear and they were hungry enough to eat. That Jodi Dahlms fish is sure one HEALTHY girl from head to tail and she looks as solid as a rock. If she made it after the release (thanks) and kept growing, she is currently crushing the state record and heading towards the world record. Now, when is she going to be fooled again?

As far as I'm concerned the state record is in the Mississippi River and I'm about to go catch it. I'll bring some pictures back for you all in a couple of hours.

But seriously I did see a fish 2 years ago that was easily 40+ pounds, could've been bigger. 2 years of decent eating and a late fall catch could put that fish close.

if i was in a position to go ashore and lift her out quick a few times i'd do that. but getting her in my boat and doing it i know i wouldn't. otherwise it's pics in the water at boatside with a piece of 4X4 cedar for reference, cut the hook a wave good bye. after a good measurement. maybe i should up-size my live well, huh? little cut here and there and it's wider,... hmmm. nope. unless she's dead she goes free for me. always a bad chance she bleeds. if you want those bigger mississippi muskies you gotta go BIG on your lure. and a pounder aint BIG ... and yes, she's in there too.

What you really need is for one of those 57-58 inch fish (and they are in there) to obtain the girth found on some of the mid-50 inch fish. A true freak of nature, something that beats the record by pounds, not ounces.

I'll also submit that I think the pursuit and anticipation of the record interests me more than the events that will unfold once that fish is caught.

As stated on another site, it's "the fishery that allows them "to beat their chest", not the other way around."
(JS, TNB 10/7). I don't look forward to the internet hoopla and full page adds from rod and bait companies featuring the record (probably dead) fish, while promoting a crappy rod (remember Joe did it for his Grandfather) nor the crowds that will swarm whatever honey hole that fish is plucked from. I hope that when the record officially falls it end up being a good thing for the fishery as a whole.

And I'm not a total pessimist, I hope I'm the one to catch it and watch it swim away!

10k - doesn't take heart to keep it, takes heart to let her go!