'Everything about it was pretty unbelievable': 51.5 inch Muskie caught in West Bay

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) -- A couple northern Michigan fishermen made the catch of a lifetime and it's making quite the splash on social media.

John Dorosh and his buddy Zack set out on West Grand Traverse Bay on April 24 to go bass fishing, but caught a massive Muskie instead!

The Muskellunge measured 51.5 inches long with a girth of 26 inches, according to Dorosh.

Unfortunately, their scale only went up to about 30 pounds, so they didn't get an exact weight, but estimated it was in the mid 40's.

Dorosh said the water was clear enough for them to see it about 50 feet down and after about ten minutes of having it hooked they got it on the boat.

“Everything about it was pretty lucky honestly,” said Dorosh. “I mean there's no reason why we should've even got that fish in the boat, but my buddy Zack he got it with his hands and that's how we brought it in; he grabbed it by the tail, hugged underneath it and just kind of threw it in the boat. So, everything about it was pretty unbelievable."

After taking a few pictures and measurements Dorosh said they threw the fish back in the water because Muskie season doesn't officially start until the first week of June.

Dorosh added he was shocked that a Facebook post about a fish could generate more than 3,000 shares and 1,000 likes on social media.