Feb. 7, 2026Updated Feb. 8, 2026, 11:33 a.m. ET
A Maryland fisherman did what no other fisherman could do over the past 13 years, and that’s catch “Fish 691,” as the muskie he landed had been dubbed by fishery biologists.
Garrett Davis of Clear Spring landed the huge muskie on Jan. 4 while fishing the Potomac River.
Davis saw it was tagged, so he took down the tag number, snapped a few photos and released his trophy back into the Potomac River, marking the fifth time the muskie had been captured and released, as related by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
DNR fishery biologists have been closely tracking Fish 691 since 2013. They’ve been tracking muskies in the Potomac since the late 1990s because of its popularity as a sports fishery. They do so by inserting individually numbered external dart tags into captured fish to monitor growth, movement and “estimate exploitation,” to determine if fish are removed at a faster rate than they can reproduce.
Of 1,011 muskies tagged in the Potomac, 466 have been reported recaptured for a 46 percent recapture rate.
In March of 2013, Davis’s fish, a female, was captured during an electrofishing survey, tagged and released. It measured 30.25 inches.
In March of 2015, the fish was recaptured for the first time during another routine electrofishing survey. It measured 36.5 inches.
In March of 2017, it was recaptured for the second time. It measured 39.75 inches. Before releasing it, biologists implanted a radio transmitter and monitored the fish throughout 2017 until the batteries expired in the winter of 2017-18.
They determined that the muskie was rather sedentary, had a distinct home range, and rarely moved out of the pool habitat where she resided.
In March 2021, biologists recaptured the fish for the third time. They determined it was now 11 years old, measured 43.75 inches and weighed 20.75 pounds. The muskie was released after replacing the existing transmitter with another unique radio frequency; it was then dubbed Fish 691. Tracked weekly, it exhibited similar behavior as before.
All told, the muskie had been captured and released four times by DNR biologists and now once by a fisherman.
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“The area where Fish 691 was known to reside experiences some of the highest angling pressure for muskies in Maryland,” the DNR stated. “Despite having a defined preferred area, Fish 691 had still not been reported by an angler since DNR started tracking her presence in the area in 2013.”
Until Davis hooked her.
“I was very fortunate to catch her,” Davis told the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. “And, it was awesome to hear the story behind her.”
And what a story.
“Fish 691 illustrates the sheer elusiveness and resilience of this prized sportfish over a 16-year [life] span in a harsh riverine environment where there are significant angling pressures, biological surveys, floods, ice jams, droughts, and summer water temperatures that can extend beyond a muskie’s ability to survive,” the DNR stated.