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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 WI |
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 Southern WI |
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 Beaver Lake, NE |
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 Northern mn |
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 Little Vermillion Lake, ON |
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 51+ musky caught on the St. Lawrence outside of Montreal. Hit a 12" bulldog lure....was tagged and released. |
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 Phoenix Park, Eau Clare, WI |
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 Lake of the woods, Canada |
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 Wisconsin |
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 Midwest |
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 Alum Creek Lake Ohio |
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 Lake St. Clair, Michigan |
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 Wisconsin |
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 Lake Harriet, MN |
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 St Croix River |
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Post date: Friday, November 30, 2018 - 05:36
 Lake Mcbride, IA |
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 Lake of the Woods |
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 Lac St-Louis, QC |
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Post date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 13:13
 Zumbro River |