On June 23,1994, at 7:00 a.m., we met Vein, our fishing guide at a local restaurant in Pierre, South Dakota, where we ate breakfast and planned our fishing excursion. We decided to try our luck below Oahe Dam which is one of five man-made dams on the Missouri River.

By 4:00 p.m. we had already caught our limit of five walleyes per person. All of a sudden, Vein called my attention to my rod in the holder, and said, "I think you've got a fish on." I removed it, and started reeling it in. My comment was, "I've got something on that's bigger than what we've been catching." All of a sudden, the fish cleared the water. Vein shouted, "You've got a Tiger Muskie on!" I wasn't really excited, but I did start checking my reel for drag. As I started fumbling to adjust it, Vein's finger came over my arm and adjusted it for me. The brake buzzed as the Muskie pulled line off my reel.

Vein shouted out orders at the kids to get out of the way. He tossed our coolers to the front of the boat, and he grabbed the big landing net. He was more excited than I was because as an experienced fisherman he knew the significance of what I had on the line. He coached me to keep the tip of the rod up! First, he was on my left side, then on my right side with the landing net in hand ready to land the fish.

By sheer luck, a once-in-a-lifetime catch was landed on our boat--a 26 lb. 12 oz. Tiger Muskie! What a hog! Vein said, " I think you've landed a new state record. "Are you going to mount it? If you don't, I will." Then I asked him, "What do you think it will cost?" He said, "It's been a long time since I've had anything mounted, but it may cost $300." Being a Dane, I wouldn't give something away that was wanted by someone else.

He asked, "Do you want to dock now, or do you want to finish catching your limit?" If I had a record breaking fish, it was important to get its official weight before too much time had elapsed, but I said, "Let's try to finish out our limit." Before too long, we had caught two more fish, then we headed for the boat dock.

We drove approximately 35 miles back to Pierre to have the fish weighed at an official weighing station which was a bait shop. As it turned out, another person had caught a larger Tiger Muskie to set a new state record, so I could not claim the record. I did get a pin though, which designates me as a South Dakota Trophy Angler.

Tiger Muskie are a man-made fish. They are a cross between a Northern pike and a Muskie. They are like a mule. They cannot reproduce. Biologists breed them in a fish hatchery and release the fry to grow for sport fisherman.

Catching a Tiger Muskie is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Some people spend their whole lives trying to catch one and are not successful. I consider my catch pure luck, but it provided me with a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

By Richard Olsen