My Watermark is the St. Lawrence River, Ontario.

My wife Doris and I ventured out for a nice comfortable troll for muskies on the St. Lawrence river.

It was sticky hot and flat calm, which usually means a nice boat ride, with no fish. There was more boat traffic in the area I like to fish, so we steamed downriver towards Gananoque, where I expected to catch pike.

I set the bait in the water, and the reel’s drag starting screaming, like nothing we have heard before. The reel was labouring, while I was yelling Fish ON! Doris fought the fish like a pro, and it jumped clear of the water, close to the boat. I netted the fish, and the first thing in my mind was this fish is 60 inches long (The holy grail of muskies). We photographed measured the fish (at 59 inches) quickly and released it. The fish swam straight down and out of sight. We release all muskies.

What a treat to have this happen with my best friend in the world. We were so excited, acting like children, as we had just caught the biggest musky of our lives, and the new, all tackle world record, for the longest released musky. A few minutes later, we saw the fish float to the surface. I spent an hour holding the fish at boat side, trying to revive it, unsuccessfully.

We went from elation to sadness, there were tears in my wife’s eyes, and mine too. Parts of the fish will be donated to Queens University for study, and the mounted fish will be available for viewing this fall.

I have spent my life living and fishing around Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and after 50 years caught the longest musky in the world last year!

What really struck me, is this; all over the world, there are old pictures of giant fish, that no longer exist, from “the glory days”

On Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river, the glory days are NOW! We need to appreciate, cherish and protect this most valuable resource.