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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Kevin Wolff has no doubt that he caught a world record fish last month in Lac La Martre.

Kevin Wolff of Wisconsin displays a potentially world record silver pike he caught in Lac La Martre in June. - photo courtesy of Kevin Wolff

The dedicated angler from Wisconsin pulled a massive 31-pound, eight-ounce silver pike out of the lake north of Yellowknife on June 23.

"I think certainly it's the biggest one ever caught," he said, adding he is not aware of a larger silver pike being documented.

"The rumour, the myth, the legend had been forever that the world record was 24 pounds, and I haven't been able to find out where people came up with that, but everyone always said that silver pike just don't get that big," he said.

Wolff has the photographic evidence to prove otherwise.

Greg Dussome, the owner/manager of Lac La Martre Adventures where Wolff was fishing, said it was the biggest silver pike ever taken from the lake.

Wolff released the fish, which measured 47-and-one-quarter inches long, back into the water of Lac La Martre.

"It survived. It's alive and well right now," he said, adding the pike has been recently spotted twice in the bay where he caught it – now called Wolff Bay in his honour.

While Wolff believes he has a world record, it will not be that easy to get it recognized.

"I don't think it's going to be official," he said.

For one thing, the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) does not recognize a world record for silver pike.

The IGFA's attitude was to forget it, Wolff said.

"They're the record-keepers."

Silver pike is not a different species or even a subspecies of regular pike. Its distinctive colour is caused by a mutation in some populations.

However, Wolff said he has his doubts.

"I mean Wisconsin has got northern pike everywhere and there are almost never any silver caught," he said. "So why are they only in some lakes and some places?"

Wolff said the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, which is based in Wisconsin, recognizes a world record of 20 pounds for a silver pike.

Wolff is sceptical about that record, pointing out Lac La Martre itself has documented quite a few silver pikes in the low 20-pound range. Wolff said he would like some organization to recognize his catch as a world record.

Dussome stated that silver pike is not a separate species from the northern pike, and there is no official record.

"The silver pike is unusual and is found in very few lakes," he stated in an e-mail. "We do catch a few of these rare pike each season."

Wolff released his big catch, but doesn't believe he needs to have the fish to claim a record.

"It shouldn't be necessary, especially these days where catch-and-release is so common," he said, adding he had a witness, a guide with Lac La Martre Adventures.

"It's too special of a fish to kill it," he said.

Wolff, a landscaping contractor from the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, is a regular visitor to Lac La Martre, where he has fished seven times in the past 10 years.

He said he is pretty sure he will be returning next year.

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