Biggest fish of 2021
Brian Clark

Captain Chaos Musky Guide Service
www.bigPAmusky.com

While most musky anglers dream of catching that elusive 50 inch fish, I dream of something
slightly different. I personally dream of that obese, floppy, pot-bellied, lazy slob of a 40-pounder. Much
like the one we landed in April of last year.

Pennsylvania doesn’t grow big muskies (for the most part). Landing a 50 incher is very rare in
Pa, and landing a 40 pounder is even tougher. So when Mike Chiro’s first ever musky swam into the net
on that day, I was blown away to say the least!

On April 6 th 2021, I was guiding clients Jason Gibson and his uncle Mike Chiro on Pymatuning
Reservoir. While Jason has caught muskies with me in the past, this was Mike’s first ever day targeting
these toothy critters. After 5 hours of struggling in the shallows, we decided to switch up tactics and do
some structure trolling along a deeper creek channel. Within 5 minutes of switching up baits and depths
we heard the down-rod start screaming! Assuming it was one of our “normal” sized muskies that was
bullying Mike around, I cracked some jokes about him being a sissy. Seconds later, the giant emerged
below my feet and explained the intense battle. The Pymatuning giant bumped at 49.25 inches, girthed
at 25.5 inches and weighed in at an incredible 41 pounds (according to my bathroom scale).
Mike’s first ever musky was the heaviest fish landed on my boat of 2021. The fatty ate a smaller
crank bait just a few feet behind the rod tip in about 12-14 foot of water. Just going to show that big
fish don’t always eat big baits, and aren’t always on the bottom!