State tiger muskie record nullified

A Harlowton man's state record for tiger muskie was short-lived. State game wardens discovered Steven Salazar did not purchase a required $5 warm water fish stamp until the day after he caught the big fish, the Billings Gazette reported on its Web site.

Salazar caught a 32.4-pound tiger muskie at Deadmans Basin Reservoir north of Ryegate on Friday. It would have broken the state record by just over 3.5 pounds. However, further investigation found that Salazar didn't buy his warm water fish stamp until Saturday morning. The state's computerized licensing system time- and date-stamps all license purchases.

"Everything has got to be legal for it to be a state record," said Bob Gibson, a spokesman for the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.The nullification means Marty Storfa of Billings still holds the state record with a 28.87-pound tiger muskie caught at Deadmans Basin in July 2006.

Salazar, 19, said he had been fishing from the east shore of the lake for several hours Friday before the big fish bit. He fought the fish for 45 minutes, bringing the muskie close to shore four or five times, but each time the fish ran back into deep water. Another fisherman tried to help with a big net, but the muskie would not fit. Salazar said an angler who helped him beach the fish shot it in the head. "That was a little shocking," Salazar said Monday. The shooting piqued the curiosity of Harold Guse, an FWP regional warden captain. Shooting a fish is illegal if it is in the water. It's legal, but not necessarily safe, if the fish is on shore. Salazar said the fish was on shore when it was shot.

Tiger muskies are a hybrid cross between northern pike and muskellunge, neither of which are native to Montana. Tiger muskies were brought to Deadmans Basin from Wisconsin starting in 1998 to prey on white suckers, which were competing for food with more desirable trout and kokanee salmon, according to Ken Frazer, regional fisheries manager for the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.