The muskellunge is a large predatory pike that lives across the northern tier of US states and southern Canada.
Other Names: Muskie, Musky, Allegheny River Pike, Barred Muskie, Shoepack Muskie, Clear Muskie, Spot Muskie. The original Ojibwe name is "Maashkinoozhe", which means "Ugly Pike."
Muskies are light colored and usually have dark bars running up and down their long bodies. That's the opposite of northern pike, which have light markings on a dark body. Muskies are silver, light green, or light brown. The foolproof way to tell a muskie from a northern is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw: A muskie has six or more. A northern has five or fewer. Muskies grow larger than Northern Pike, exceeding seventy pounds in weight. However, Northern Pike fry hatch earlier than muskie fry do, and devour the newly hatched muskies where both species exist. The Muskellunge is also called "The Fish of 10,000 Casts" because of the difficulty in finding and hooking one. Their fight is fierce and unpredictable.
Muskies are normally pursued with large lures, some over a foot in length, to imitate the large prey this fish prefers. Crankbaits, bucktails, jerkbaits, soft plastics, and huge spinnerbaits all will work. Trolling for muskies is popular in some areas, as is live-bait fishing with giant sucker minnows.
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Post date: Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - 19:20
 Little Vermillion Lake, ON |
Post date: Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 20:37
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Post date: Wednesday, September 28, 2016 - 21:28
 Caught on Jordan Pond, east of Stevens Point. |
Post date: Sunday, August 23, 2015 - 20:30
 Lake Chautauqua, Chautauqua County, NY |
Post date: Friday, June 30, 2017 - 23:46
 Northen MN |
Post date: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 20:24
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Post date: Monday, March 14, 2016 - 00:16
 Mississippi River |
Post date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 17:32
 WI |
Post date: Monday, September 2, 2013 - 19:45
 Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, spook, 23" |
Post date: Monday, April 25, 2016 - 15:35
 Lake of the woods, Canada |
Post date: Friday, October 18, 2013 - 16:21
 Big Lake, Wisconsin |
Post date: Friday, June 15, 2018 - 12:42
 Baker Lake Outlet. Maine. |
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Post date: Monday, April 16, 2012 - 21:45
 WI |
Post date: Monday, October 3, 2016 - 19:53
 Rideau River, Ottawa-Carleton RM, Ontario, Canada |
Post date: Sunday, August 23, 2015 - 00:01
 Callahan lake, WI. |
Post date: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 - 09:53
 Findley Lake |
Post date: Thursday, April 5, 2018 - 23:20
 Wisconsin |
Post date: Wednesday, August 8, 2018 - 18:29
 Lake St. Clair, Michigan |
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Post date: Thursday, February 25, 2016 - 08:24
 Lake Josephine, Arden Hills, MN |
Post date: Saturday, January 11, 2014 - 01:09
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Post date: Saturday, March 17, 2012 - 17:26
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Post date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 13:13
 Zumbro River |
Post date: Friday, June 15, 2018 - 13:02
 Baker Lake Outlet, Maine. |
Post date: Saturday, February 3, 2018 - 22:17
 Natural tiger caught in Chippewa Flowage.....was fishing for walleyes using 1/4 oz jig head with half a nitecrawler hanging off it. |