First musky, new record: 57.5-inch Green Bay fish tops Wisconsin’s live-release mark

David Grisar of Saukville, Wisconsin, had never caught a musky before his trip on Green Bay with Capt. Nolan Koepp of Nolan’s Top Gun Charters. Wired2Fish reported Oct. 16 that the fish he caught that day, 57.5 inches long, is now Wisconsin’s live-release record. Koepp was trolling six rods. Around noon one of them went off, and Koepp cleared the other lines while Grisar fought the fish for about five minutes before it was netted. They took a few photos, measured it on a bump board and released it.

Wisconsin DNR has tracked live-release records since 2017. Green Bay fish broke the musky mark three times in 2025. Guide Jeff Van Remortel caught a 56-incher in June, a 56.5-inch fish followed later in the year, and Illinois angler Sam Becker released a 57-inch musky in August. A new record has to beat the old one by at least a quarter inch. DNR fisheries biologist Karl Scheidegger reviewed Grisar’s application and photos and confirmed the fish qualifies. He wrote in the congratulatory letter, “Not a bad fish for a first musky.”

Musky were native to Green Bay but disappeared in the early 1900s. Since 1989, the DNR and local musky clubs have stocked about 155,000 of them in the bay. Koepp said fall fishing there starts in September and that numerous fish over 50 inches are caught there every October.

Photo: via Wired2Fish (David Grisar’s 57.5-inch Green Bay musky).

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Wired2Fish — Angler Catches First-Ever Musky, and It’s a 57.5-Incher That Set a New State Record (Keith Lusher, Oct. 16, 2026).