Wisconsin's State Record Northern Pike

Wisconsin’s State Record Northern Pike, Fact or Fiction?

On August 6th, 1952, a Chicago tourist named J.A. Rahn, did something no one had done before or has since: he caught a Wisconsin state record northern pike, which reportedly weighed 38 pounds. There were several witnesses to the catch and a photo of the fish was proudly displayed at Holland’s Resort on the north shore of Lake Puckaway, where the the fish was caught. Holland said that he entered the fish in the Sports Afield Award Program and that it was accepted. The International Gamefish Association certified the fish as a new Wisconsin record.

I personally had the opportunity to talk with Cal Holland who witnessed the weighing of the fish. The conversation occurred in the 1970’s, but I can’t recall exactly when. I do remember much of it, though. Cal was emphatic that the catch was real and that at least one or two people actually saw Rahn catch the fish.

But the story doesn’t end there. Like most records, people often look at them with a skeptical eye and the Rahn pike is no different. In the mid-80’s an attempt to discredit the fish surfaced when I was told that the fish had weighed 28 pounds and that a 10-pound window sash had been dropped

down its throat before it was weighed. Being an outdoor writer at the time, I decided to do a little investigating myself and asked some of the old-timers, many whom I knew, what they knew about the fish.

Some backed the claim that the fish was legitimate, while others smiled and claimed that the sash story “might in fact, be true.”

Of course, no one had any evidence to the fact, but during my search, I did find a yellowed story and photo of the fish on the wall at Good Old Day’s Resort. In the caption of the photo, it stated that: “the fish was 46 inches long and weighed 28 pounds.” Someone had crossed off the number “28” and wrote “38” above it. That old story has since disappeared. Was the caption correct, or was the newspaper guilty of a typo?

I managed to acquire an old photo of the fish being held for the camera by Mr. Rahn. I sent the photo to Jan Eggers in the Netherlands, recognized throughout the world as the foremost authority on northern pike as well as debunking old northern pike records.

I received a report from him that he did not feel that a 46 inch pike could possibly weigh 38 pounds and that 28 pounds seemed more likely. I subsequently met with Eggers personally in Minnesota a year later when he was in the United States for a musky and pike symposium and discussed the pike record with him at length. His comments were as follows:

“The pike appears too short to be 38 pounds. However, not knowing the height of the man in the photo, makes it difficult to determine the exact size of the fish. It also would have been helpful to have had a girth measurement. Although I believe that this fish did not weigh 38 pounds, there isn’t enough proof to refute the claim that it did. So I would have to say that the evidence is too inconclusive to reject the record.”

In writing this story, it is not my intention to prove or disprove the record. I enjoy the controversy surrounding it and actually find the whole thing quite intriguing if not romantic.

As a long-time fishing guide on Lake Puckaway, I have seen some tremendous pike and have caught a few over 20 pounds. I have seen them much bigger. Records are made to be broken and as old as this record is someday, somewhere, someone will catch one bigger.

For the time being, however, the record is the record and it comes from Lake Puckaway.

And it might again, one day. That is something to embrace and any controversy regarding the record only adds to the storied history of the lake from the days of early settlement to the present.

Respectfully submitted by:

Daryl Christensen

Montello, Wisconsin