In the world of musky records, big fish continue to stir big controversy.

Musky enthusiasts will recall that back in 1992, after an investigation by John Dettloff, the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame disqualified a fish that stood for nearly 35 years as the world-record musky. The Hall of Fame determined that Art Lawton had exaggerated the size of a musky he caught in New York's St. Lawrence River in 1957 by about 20 pounds.

The decision meant that a 69-pound, 11-ounce musky caught by Louie Spray in Wisconsin's Chippewa Flowage on Oct. 20, 1949, was re-established as the world record. Both Lawton and Spray are deceased.

Now, in a new book entitled "Musky Chronicles III," author Eli Singer of Park Falls claims that Spray, too, exaggerated the size of his world-record musky.

"I think the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward should re-examine the world record with an eye to more accurately estimate the length and girth of Spray's current world record," Singer said in a telephone interview.

The key to Dettloff's investigation, and Lawton's disqualification, was an analysis of a photograph of Lawton holding his musky. Knowing that Lawton was 5 feet 8 inches tall, the musky could be no longer than 57 inches, not the 64½ inches that he reported, the analysis concluded.

Singer said that recently uncovered medical records list Spray's height at 5-11 - not 6-2 or 6-3 as previously believed.

"Apply the same photographic scrutiny to Spray's muskies and, lo and behold, they don't appear to measure up," Singer said.

Spray's biggest musky is listed in the records as 63½ inches long. Singer said: "Fifty-four inches is what I'd estimate, or 55 max."

Dettloff, who recently was elected president of the Hall of Fame's board of directors, called Singer's book "yellow journalism" and "trash."

"The book is full of information that is totally false, full of innuendo and misleading statements about an important chapter of angling history," Dettloff said. "Eli has no credibility in terms of analyzing these photos. He's not qualified."

Analysis of the Lawton photo was done by an expert at the California Museum of Photography and was reviewed by a Madison law firm that, Dettloff said, found that the analysis "met the highest court standard of beyond a reasonable doubt."

Dettloff, of Couderay, is a resort owner, musky guide, local historian and author of "Three Record Muskies in His Day, the Life and Times of Louie Spray." He called minor discrepancies about Spray's height "irrelevant."

Dettloff said Spray's fish had been measured and weighed by credible witnesses. In addition, he said: "There is overwhelming corroborative proof showing that these (Spray's) fish are as big as claimed." He noted that thousands of people saw Spray's world-record musky mounted and on display at the Milwaukee Sentinel Sports Show in 1950.

Singer questioned the credibility of Dettloff and Hall of Fame fish historian Larry Ramsell, calling them "members of the Hayward musky fishing establishment."

"Spray was from Hayward, the Hall of Fame is in Hayward and Dettloff and Ramsell are in Hayward," Singer said. "It has the appearance of a self-serving conflict of interest."

Dettloff countered: "Because Larry and I are from Hayward, we have developed an incredible passion for musky fishing and the preservation of its history."

Dettloff called Singer part of "a little clique of people that has some agenda and they're trying to trash these records."

"I call it 'Musky McCarthyism,' " said Dettloff, referring to the late Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy, known for making unfounded accusations to portray opponents as subversive. "What McCarthy did was evil and destructive, and these guys are equally destructive in terms of the legacy of Wisconsin musky angling history."

Earlier this month, the Hall of Fame's executive board voted unanimously to deny a request by Hayward musky guide Pete Maina to have Spray's record muskies disqualified or demoted. The board also voted not to sell Singer's book in the Hall of Fame's gift shop "because it was full of inaccuracies," Dettloff said.

"My interest is purely in the accuracy of world records," said Ramsell, of Moose Lake. "You show me proof to the contrary of what stands now, and I'll be the first one on the bandwagon. We've been shown nothing yet that contradicts the known evidence and documentation."

Dettloff agreed.

So it looks like this challenge to Spray's world-record musky isn't going anywhere.