'It's like birth!' Fisherman struggles to pull massive fish through hole in the ice when he hooks a 54-inch whopper<br />Fisherman managed to hook a 54-inch Muskellunge at Mille Lacs lake, Minnesota<br />Footage shows the man pulling the pike from inside a frozen hole with his hands<br />He tells his friends to 'give me a tape measure' and how he will put it back in the wild<br />This is the moment a fisherman who struggled to pull a giant fish through a hole in the ice manages to hook a staggering 54-inch pike.<br /><br />Footage shows a keen angler dangling a line inside a frozen hole at Mille Lacs lake, Minnesota.<br /><br />The hook suddenly tightens as though he's secured a fish from within the hidden depths below.<br />One of his friends crouches next to him before trying to put his hand inside. <br /><br />The fisherman gradually pulls the line, which appears to show a fish splashing in the water.<br /><br />He puts his hand inside to try and encourage the pike to the water's surface.<br />He tells the group 'she's huge' as he is handed a metal rod to tease it to land.<br /><br />People can be heard screaming as the fish's head pokes above the surface and splashes, in the clip from February 22. <br /><br />Seconds later, the fisherman plunges his hand into the water and tries to cling on to the fish.<br />He doesn't hold back as he grips on to the animal's face and yanks its body on to the icy land. <br /><br />The angler quickly jumps to his feet to steady his catch and drags it on to the ice - as the group erupts into cheering.<br /><br />One of the spectators says 'give me a tape measure, please' while another adds how 'it's like a birth'.<br /><br />The fisherman tells them 'if you're not going to eat it, you've got to let it go' and another agrees 'you've got to let it go, regardless'. <br /><br />As the fisherman kneels down to the monster-size fish, he continues to ask if anyone has a tape measure as he desperately wants to document his big catch.<br /><br />The spectators conclude it's a 'giant muskie' - short for Muskellunge.<br /><br />This large solitary fish is native to north America and is around 37.4 inches long.<br /><br />They can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour and live for as long as 30 years. <br /><br />The largest, world-beating Muskellunge, weighing 65 pounds, was caught by Cal Johnson at Lake Court Oreilles near Hayward, Wisconsin, in 1949. <br />
