Mike Sheils caught a really big muskie, probably the fish of a lifetime, and earned Fish of the Week.

By Dale Bowman

Mike Sheils holds his really big muskie. Provided photo — Mike Sheils holds his really big muskie.

Mike Sheils caught what his friend Bruce Kalinowski called a possible “fish of a lifetime.”

Sheils, of Harwood Heights, caught the 51 3/4-inch muskie with a 23-inch girth on July 29 on Minnesota’s Lake Vermilion.

“Caught it at 6:45 a.m. on a weed edge along a main channel,” Sheils emailed. “Fish hit the [Mepps] boatside.”

“Looks like a proud father holding his new child,” Kalinowski emailed.

Deservedly so.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the Sun-Times. Submit nominations by message on Facebook (Dale Bowman), on Twitter (@BowmanOutside) and Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com).

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Really big muskie: Fish for a lifetime earns Fish of the Week

Mike Sheils caught a really big muskie, probably the fish of a lifetime, and earned Fish of the Week.