This elusive fish — ‘oldest’ of its kind in Iowa — evaded capture nearly 2,000 times

The oldest known female muskellunge in the state of Iowa couldn’t be on the run forever.

She finally got caught, almost 25 years to the day after the muskie was first encountered by biologists with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The sneaky fish somehow dodged recapture nearly 2,000 times in the past two decades, skirting past nets put out by the Fisheries Bureau, the state said in a Facebook post.

And we’re not talking about a small fish: It grew from 33.4 inches to 46 inches over that time.

How the muskie got so crafty is anybody’s guess, but fisheries research biologist Jonathan Meerbeek calls it a “fun” mystery.

“A total of 1,996 net sets were conducted from 2002-2020 within the Okoboji lake chain, and that fish was never recaptured,” he told McClatchy News.

“This year, as part of our broodstock collection, we recaptured her for the first time since 2001!”

Muskellunge are a big freshwater fish, growing to over 50 inches and 50 pounds in Iowa, experts say. The state record was set by a 50-pound, 6-ounce muskie, caught 21 years ago in Dickinson County, the state says. Any muskie less than 40 inches must be “immediately” released in Iowa, the state says.

“Some fishermen have termed musky the fish of 1,000 casts. Musky are world famous for their difficulty to hook and successfully land,” the state’s Department of Natural Resources reports.

Walleye and muskellunge captured in the state’s nets are taken to hatcheries to help spawn offspring for fish stocking.

In the case of the evasive 25-year-old muskie, biologists found two different state tags: A 1996 “brand” when she was first released, and a 2001 transponder tag, noting when she was last caught in West Okoboji Lake, near the Minnesota state line.

“That makes her the oldest known female muskellunge reported in Iowa,” Meerbeek said, adding the fish is still very much alive. “She is back in the lake ready for the next adventure!”