Muskie

Name:

Muskie

Other Names:

Muskellunge

Characteristics:

Muskellunge closely resemble other Esocids such as the northern pike and American pickerel in both appearance and behavior. Like other pikes, the body plan is typical of ambush predators with an elongate body, flat head and dorsal, pelvic and anal fins set far back on the body. Muskellunge attain lengths of 60–150 cm (2–5 ft) and weights of over 30 kg (66 lb).

The fish are a light silver, brown or green with dark vertical stripes on the flank, which may tend to break up into spots. In some cases, markings may be absent altogether, especially in fish from turbid waters. This is in contrast to northern pike which have dark bodies with light markings.

A sure way of distinguishing the two similar species is by counting the sensory pores on the underside of the mandible. A muskie will have seven or more per side while the northern pike never has more than six. The lobes of the caudal (tail) fin in muskellunge come to a sharper point while those of northern pike are more generally rounded. In addition, unlike pike, muskies have no scales on the lower half of the operculum.

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Fish Habits:

Muskies prey upon anything that fits in the mouth. Most of the diet consists of fish but it also includes crayfish, frogs, ducklings, snakes, muskrats, mice and other small mammals. The mouth is large with many large and hair-like teeth. Muskies will attempt to take their prey head-first, sometimes in a single gulp. They will take prey items that are up to 30% of their total length. In the spring, they tend to prefer smaller bait as their metabolism is slower and large bait in fall prior to winter.

Muskellunge are sometimes gregarious, forming small schools. They spawn in mid to late spring, somewhat later than northern pike, over shallow, vegetated areas. The males arrive first and attempt to establish dominance over a territory. Spawning may last from five to ten days and occurs mainly at night. The zygotes are negatively buoyant and slightly adhesive; they adhere to plants and are then abandoned by the adults. Those embryos which are not eaten by fish, insects or crayfish hatch within two weeks. The larvae live on yolk until the mouth is fully developed, at which time they begin to feed on copepods and other zooplankton. They soon begin to prey upon fish. Juveniles will generally attain a length of 30 cm (12 inches) by November 7th of the first year.

Fishing Tactics:

Anglers seek large muskies as trophies or for sport. The fish attain impressive swimming speeds but are not particularly maneuverable. The highest speed runs are usually fairly short. Muskies are known for their strength and for their tendency to leap from the water in stunning acrobatic displays. A challenging fish to catch, the muskie has been called "the fish of ten thousand casts".

Anglers most often use extremely large lures. Smaller lures in spring and larger in fall are effective. The average lure is 20–30 cm (8–12 inches) long but longer lures of 35–65 cm (14–26 inches) are not uncommon in the musky angler's arsenal.

Tips:

Number one tip: have an experienced muskie fisherman take you fishing, or attend a local muskie club meeting and shorten your learning curve.

Mid-May until mid-July are the best periods.

Be sure and try casting bucktails and jerkbaits around any available weed-beds the last two weeks of May before the gizzard shad finish spawning and move out into the open lake.

A quality needlenose pliers and mini-boltcutters are a must-have in a muskie boat. Big hooks and muskie teeth can both cause an angler nasty injuries. The bolt cutters can be used to both free a muskie from a landing net when hooks tangle and to free and angler from a lure whose hooks have become embedded in the angler.

Tackle:

6.6 to 8-foot medium to heavy casting rods matched with wide-spool casting reels with line-out alarms. A separate rod for trolling purposes is a plus and should have slightly more flex than the casting rod and be equipped with a line counter reel for determining accurate trolling depths.

New “super-lines” in 60 to 90-pound test make great multi-purpose lines for casting and trolling but require modern muskie rods with more length and flex since these lines have low stretch characteristics.

A short ten-inch wire leader is recommended for casting and longer 12 to 24-inch leader for trolling to protect your line from zebra mussels and muskie teeth.

Distribution:

The live from northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota through the Great Lakes region, north into Canada, throughout most of the St Lawrence River drainage and northward throughout the upper Mississippi valley, although the species also extends as far south as Chattanooga in the Tennessee River valley. They are also found in the Red River drainage of the Hudson Bay basin.

They prefer clear waters where they lurk along weed edges, rock outcrops or other structure to rest. A fish forms two distinct home ranges in summer: a shallow range and a deeper one. The shallow range is generally much smaller than the deeper range due to shallow water heating up. A musky will continually patrol the ranges in search of available food in the appropriate conditions of water temperature, pH and clarity.