Wildlife officials denied the fish, which is awaiting recording, because of questions about where it was caught.
On March 2, the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife congratulated Victor Gelman of New York for catching a 45-pound musky in the ice of Greenwood Lake, but on March 13, an official told the Asbury Park Press that the fish did not qualify as a New Jersey record because it was caught on the New York side of the lake between the two states.
Sean Krause, director of the state’s Freshwater Fisheries Service, told the newspaper that the fish was caught at the northernmost end of the lake, more than three miles from New York.
“We discussed this with the New York fisheries director and we thought we should be consistent with our record,” Krause said. “This should not diminish the catch. We are proud of these fish and the anglers love that it comes from our hatchery.”
Gelman told Outdoor Life that he caught the trophy fish on February 24 and that it came from the Hackettstown Hatchery in New Jersey, which has been stocking muskie in Greenwood Lake for several years.
It was well below the New York record of nearly 70 pounds caught in 1957.
New Jersey’s record for the species was set in 1997, when Bob Neals caught a 42-pound, 13-ounce fish in the ice at Monksville Reservoir.
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