MUSKIE & NORTHERN PIKE
Posted on January 29, 2009
Hi there.
As you can see by some of the pictures, we like muskie fishing.
In fact we love muskie fishing.
Here is a lot of info on Muskies and Northern Pike along with tips and techniques on catching them.
Regards from the crew at MFN
MUSKELLUNGE
COMMON NAMES:
Musky, lunge, jack, tiger, spotted, barred, great, leopard, Great Lakes, muskellunge, maskinonge.
The muskellunge is one of the largest and most elusive fish that swims. A muskie will eat fish and sometimes ducklings and even small muskrats. It waits in weed beds and behind other shelter and then lunges forward, clamping its large, tooth-lined jaws onto the prey. The muskie then gulps down the stunned or dead victim, usually head first.
Muskies are light colored and usually have dark bars running up and down their elongated bodies. That’s the opposite of northern pike, which sport light markings on a dark body. Muskies are silver, light green, or light brown. The only real way to tell a muskie from a northern pike is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw: A muskie has six or more. A northern has five or fewer.
The muskie, unlike the northern pike, has six to nine pores (usually seven) on each side of the underside of the lower jaw. The lower half of the muskie’s cheek has no scales. The lobes of the muskie’s tail are more pointed than those of the northern pike.
The muskie’s coloring is also different from a northern pike’s. It takes three common forms , but all have a light background. Muskies generally have three different variations; dark spots on a light background (spotted phase), dark bars on a light background (barred phase) and the third pattern, which is occasionally seen throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, is the “clear” phase of light sides with no marks or very faint marks on the rear third of the fish. Their color appears to be dependent on which area the muskie are from.
The muskie spawns when the water temperature is between 48 and 59 degrees. That is generally about two weeks later than the northern pike. A 40-pound female musky can produce more than 200,000 eggs. They generally spawn twice with the second time being about 2 weeks after the first time. The muskie’s eggs settle to the bottom, rather than the weedy in-shore areas northern pike use. The fact that the spawning areas are different from those of the pike apparently prevents northern pike fingerlings from preying on newly hatched muskie. In some circumstances late-spawning northern pike have been seen spawning with muskie which produces a hybrid offspring is called a “tiger muskie.”
The muskie’s diet is similar to the northern pike’s. Newly hatched fry eat plankton and invertebrates but their diet quickly changes to primarily fish. Muskie feeding peaks at water temperatures in the mid-60s and drops off to almost nothing when temperatures reach the mid-80s.
Muskie are smaller than northern pike during their first couple of years but grow longer and heavier than pike as they get older. It is not unusual for them to surpass 30 pounds. Thus, the average angler-caught muskie is quite a bit larger than the average northern pike. Muskie apparently have evolved to avoid head-on competition with northern pike. If northern pike find their way into muskie water, they seem to proliferate at the expense of muskies. In waters where muskie evolved without northern pike present, the muskie chooses the same weedy, flooded wetlands that serve as northern pike spawning areas elsewhere. If pike are introduced to these waters as they have been in certain areas of Wisconsin, the northern pike spawn in these same areas some two weeks earlier. So when the muskie fry hatch, they are bait to the larger young-of-the-year northern pike.
To make matters worse, young muskie routinely hang just below the surface of the water so they are easy prey for birds as well as fish. Where the two species have coexisted for thousands of years like the head waters of the Mississippi River, the muskie seem to have adopted different spawning areas. In some lakes, muskie spawn just offshore in 3 to 6 feet of water. The Northern pike in the same body of water tend to use the weedy shorelines of bays thus their young presumably have less chance to prey on the newly hatched muskie. Competition between these two cousins may also be affected by many other factors like disease, oxygen concentrations and prevailing water temperatures. River conditions also help muskie hold their own against northern pike, which prefer slower, weedier water. That is why really big rivers like the St Lawrence routinely produce huge Musky.
SIZE:
Muskellunge are one of the fastest-growing freshwater game fish. In the first six months of life they attain an average length of over 10 inches. Some very large Canadian muskellunge have been caught in recent years in the Moon River and Georgian Bay in Ontario, and the existing world record may soon be topped. The average size of a muskellunge is between 10 and 20 pounds, but numerous fish each year weighing more than 30 pounds are caught from Canadian and American waters. The tiger muskellunge exhibits what is known as ‘hybrid vigour.’ Although, it doesn’t quite attain the length of the true muskellunge, it certainly grows faster and is often much heavier for its length.
WORLD RECORD:
69 POUNDS 11 OUNCES IN WISCONSIN
WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND: The Muskellunge is native to the fresh waters of eastern North America. In Canada, it is found in Ontario and Quebec, and a small area of water in southeastern Manitoba. It is also native to the lower Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River along with its tributaries. In the United States, the muskie is found from the St. Lawrence River south to Tennessee and through Illinois into Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is native to parts of the Mississippi and Ohio drainage systems. In Canada, the tiger Muskellunge has a somewhat limited range in those waters harboring both the Muskellunge and the Northern Pike.
HABITS AND HABITAT
Muskellunge are well known for their viscous strikes at any unsuspecting prey that happens to swim too close. Other fish like walleye, bass, perch and even small ducklings swimming on the surface are all potential food for the large Musky. The muskellunge uses its great speed to suddenly burst upon its prey usually engulfing it in one devastating bite. If the meal does not go down in the first bite they will hold their prey in their mouth and return with the food to its lair. The main food for all adult muskellunge is other smaller fish like perch, walleye, suckers, large minnows, and pretty much any other fish. They will also eat ducks, muskrats, squirrels, and snakes that happen to be in or on the water. Muskellunge are for the most part solitary fish. They move very little, and once they have claimed a particular area in a lake they often drive other game fish away. Anglers who have had a strike from a muskie should carefully note the location and return to work the area repeatedly. The muskellunge’s habitat is varied. In shallower weedier lakes they generally stay in areas adjacent to deep weed cover or sit near structures such as wood or rock piles from which they can strike out at prey. In clearer, deeper lakes, they are commonly near deep weed lines, drop-offs and fast tapering shoals. Any water that has one of these locations as well as good forage could easily contain sizable muskellunge.
MUSKIE FISHING TECHNIQUES:
There are many different angling methods that can be used for catching muskie. These include casting, trolling, and live bait fishing. In the late spring and early summer, muskies will often stay in the shallows quite a while after finishing their spawning activities. Casting big in line spinners and spinnerbaits is often productive for catching aggressive fish as they feed after spawning. The use of musky sized twitch or jerk baits can also be very effective early in the season. As the water warms, many of these fish will drop down into deeper water. During mid summer if you are fishing in large, deep, open water lakes or larger rivers, try trolling very large deep diving plugs as it is usually one of the more consistent ways to catch medium to large sized muskies. Use your sonar/fish finder to help locate fish holding structures like rock piles, steep drop offs, underwater point and the deep edges of weed beds. Trolling over areas like these often leads to fish being caught. As summer progresses into fall, and Muskellunge start feeding for the winter, they will often move to the shallows again, especially in rivers and smaller lakes. This is another good time for using jerk baits. A jerk bait is usually made from a piece of wood similar to a section of a hockey stick. Dont let its looks fool you as these are very effective in attracting and catching big muskies. Toss it out over rock piles, shoals and weed lines to coax Muskellunge into striking. The lure should be jerked all the way back to the boat so that it dives just under the surface. Just when it starts to float back up to the surface you just jerks the lure again to make it dive and swim erratically like a wounded or sick bait fish. Dont forget to do a figure eight with the lure when it gets closer to the boat. Musky are notorious for following lures a very long distance without striking. The sudden change in direction is often just the extra movement it takes to entice the Musky into striking your lure. You would be amazed at how often Musky will strike a lure that is in very close proximity to the boat.
MUSKY FISHING TACKLE:
Because Muskellunge grow to such a large size, the tackle required to successfully catch these freshwater giants is relatively beefy. Heavier rods than you would use for just about any other fish with at least 30 pound test braided line are the rule for this type of fishing. You should always always use florocarbon leaders. Florocarbon is virtually invisible in the water. It is also much tougher than regular mono line and is even more abrasion resistant than braided line. It is also very important that you use florocarbon leaders when fishing for musky as it will not cut up the fish if it rolls in the line as musky will often do.
There are variations, however, in the type of tackle chosen. Anglers who elect to cast spinners will use only medium-heavy to heavy action rods while those using jerk baits often require special ‘pool cues’ as super-heavy rods are known. In most cases, rods for taking Muskellunge have extra long butts to allow two handed casting of large, heavy lures and to make it easier to fight the fish. If you are trolling you will need longer rods but they will still have to be heavier. We would suggest braided line of at least 50 lb test, and good level wind counter reels. I recently lost a very large muskie that I had hooked while trolling. He took such a run that I was almost out of line when he turned and swam at the boat so fast that I was unable to respool my reel fast enough to keep tension on the line. He jumped into the air some 10 feet behind the boat just so I could see how really big he was and then he dove down into the submerged wood (after sticking his tongue out at me) and buried the lure into the submerged wood. Needless to say I was devastated at the loss of what may have been the biggest muskie of my life. The lesson here was that although I had been using the right rod, lines and lures, my reel was not up to the battle. I have since switched the reels that I use to fish for muskie
Top lures for Muskellunge are almost always very large in comparison to lures for other fish. Large bucktail spinners are extremely effective,throughout the Musky season as are the various over sized spinner baits. There is also a variety of large crankbaits, plugs, and spoons available which are also quite useful when casting or trolling especially through the summer months. The lure that is almost synonymous with the Muskellunge is the jerk bait. These types of lures along with the surface lures are some of the most exciting lures to use for Muskellunge. That is because they are retrieved on or near the surface so when a muskie strikes this plug, you can watch them charge the bait open their huge mouths and inhale your bait within a few feet of your boat.
TRY THESE TIPS:
1/ The best time to hook these fish close to shore is during the fall. Muskies feed heavily until ice up so during the cold months they are usually found at the openings of bays, along steep shorelines, and especially near rocky points. The most productive method of catching muskies under these conditions is by casting large baits, particularly jerk baits, into these areas.
2/ During these same times you may find that in the large rivers the larger Muskies may be found sitting together in deeper sections of the river. If that is the case try using very large plastic thumper tail baits like the extra large swim baits that already have the jig head and hooks built into the plastic body (Like a storm wild eye). Drop them to the bottom and slowly drift over the sections where you believe the muskie are hiding. This method has been used quite successfully on the upper Niagara River over the past few years in the late fall and early winter.
3/ Muskies are effected by winds. Always look to shore line on the down wind side of the body of water. Look for the deeper edge of a deep weed bed where the bottom drops off into even deeper water when the winds pick up. We like large deep diving crank baits, extra large swim baits or spinner baits for these conditions. Remember when fishing in higher winds to ensure that you have all of the right safety equipment on board and that you anchor your boat properly or troll carefully so as not to put your boat or yourself at risk
4/ Muskies are known mammal eaters. There is good reason why bucktail spinners and jigs are so effective against muskies. If you get a chance, buy a bucktail spinner or bucktail jig in extreme sizes. If you are on known muskie waters, don’t pass up the opportunity to try these lures. There is nothing that we have fished for that gives you a bigger rush than a muskie rushing then striking a surface or just sub surface lure close to the boat. If that doesnt give you an adrenaline rush we dont know what will.
Habitat Protection
In waters where the muskie lives it is criticle that we protect their habitat and spawning areas . Changes in shoreline and aquatic vegetation takes away the cover the musky needs. Changes in the water due to run off from farmland as well as residential development cause changes in oxygen levels which interferes with spawning success. Drainage of wetlands causes changes which worsens the effects of flooding and drought all of which effects the muskie. The muskie is a special and rare trophy fish. Its requirements are more specific than that of its cousin, the northern pike. Which is why in many areas, the muskie’s existence is quite tenuous. It is threatened by fishing, loss of habitat, and competition from other fish species especially the pike. The goal of muskie management is to create and protect self-sustaining populations so that there will be large fish for the angler skilled and dedicated enough to catch them in the future.
Trophy Management
Muskie are generally perceived as trophy fish. Really large fish are quite scarce and often quite old. Most of not all provinces and states impose a minimum length as well as a very low possession limit. No matter how carefully we handle the muskellunges, it will remain hard to locate and even harder to catch. Real muskie fishermen are doing far more than the law requires in order to help preserve the Musky. They voluntarily release nearly all their fish even the really big ones so that they can be caught again. A female Muskie 50 inches or greater is generally considered to be a trophy. These 50-inch muskellunge are at least 15 years old. A male muskellunge of 45 to 49 inches is generally considered a trophy fish. A male muskellunge over 50 inches in length is virtually unheard of.
In the words of ichthyologist George C. Becker,
“catch-and-release programs work by offering more fishing fun, and by providing the moral satisfaction that comes with leaving something for the next fisherman rather than contributing to the exhaustion of an already strained resource.”
SPECIES SURVIVAL
A large muskie is always an old muskie. Females take at least 14 to 17 years to reach 30 pounds or more. Northern pike grow even more slowly. Once caught, a trophy is not easily replaced by another fish of the same size. Thus the key is proper catch and release practices. Unfortunately, some fish are injured by improper handling and will not survive thus cannot be successfully released. You should also be aware of water temperature as this seriously effects the survival rate of these fish. If the water is 80 degrees or more you just shouldnt fish for muskie or pike as they are very unlikely to survive the catch and release. If the water is in the 70′s then it is very important that you keep the fish in the water as long as possible to increase their chance of survival. Water in the 50′s and 60′s is much better for them as they can usually live through the catch photo and release process. Northern pike and muskie are always difficult to handle because of their slime coat and very sharp teeth. Really big fish are particularly troublesome because of their greater size, weight and power.
PROPER HANDLING AND RELEASE
- The first step is to use artificial baits rather than live bait. When caught on artificial baits and handled very carefully, nearly all of these impressive fish can be released with no serious injury.
- The second step is to keep the fish in the water if at all possible. If you have to lift a bigger fish from the water, always support as much of its body as you can to avoid injuring its internal organs.
- Never grip a fish by the eye sockets if you intend to release it. By doing this, you can injure its eyes and the surrounding tissue which can cause blindness.
EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR HANDLING LARGE MUSKIE AND PIKE:
In water release: Grip the fish over the back, immediately behind the gills NOT near the eye sockets. Hold the fish snugly without squeezing it. Use pliers in your other hand to remove the hooks, while leaving as much of the fish as possible in the water. Sometimes hooks can be removed through the use of pliers alone without really touching the fish.
Using a proper Muskie net: Hooks can be removed from some fish while they remain in the net which should be left in the water if possible. If that’s not possible, lift the fish aboard and remove the hooks while the fish is still in the net. If you need to restrain the fish then hold it behind the head and around the tail. Sometimes in order to better restrain larger fish try stretching a piece of cloth or plastic over the fish in order to pin it down.
Stretcher or Cradle: A stretcher or cradle is made of material that is a few feet wide and stretched between two poles. As you steer the fish into the cradle and lift it up, the fold of the material supports the fish as well as restraining them so you can remove the hooks. This method often requires two anglers.
Tailer: Used by salmon anglers for some time, a tailer is a rope or similar material with a loop at one end that is slipped over the fish’s tail and tightened. The fish is now held quite securely but the head usually requires further restraint before the hooks can be safely removed.
NORTHERN PIKE
COMMON NAMES:
Great northern pike, pickerel, snake, wolf, gator, Great Lakes pike, Canada pike, shovelnose pike, chain pickerel, hammer handle, grass pike, or jack (young pike)
WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND:
This ferocious-looking fish is often referred to as the ‘water wolf,’ and the many tall tales about the pike are associated with its great size and predatory appearance. Pike are easily recognized by their characteristic sleek, elongated shape. The dorsal fin is positioned unusually close to the tail, and the fearsome head is dominated by odd, duckbill jaws, filled with abundant, large, sharp teeth. The pike’s carnivorous appearance is reinforced by its malevolent stare and the green-and-yellow camouflage that covers its muscular body. Adults have a vertical bar below the eye. This fierce creature, once called the ‘pitiless pike,’ is a formidable sight indeed.
SIZE:
Most fishermen are more accustomed to 18- to 22-inch pike, weighing an average of, perhaps, three to five pounds. Nevertheless, there are tales of monsters over 40 pounds lurking out there in the northern Canadian waters.
DISTRIBUTION:
The resourceful Northern Pike is a resident of the Northern Hemisphere. This extremely successful creature is one of the few species that is found throughout Canada. It is also found in many of the more northerly American states, especially Alaska. Although the pike prefers fresh water, this highly adaptable fish has even managed to occasionally extend its range into waters containing a low salt content.
HABITS AND HABITAT
Pike are solitary and are found in lakes and rivers where the water is still or flowing slowly, vegetation is heavy and the water warm, but they usually retire to deeper, cooler water at the height of summer, especially the big ones. Pike employ relatively simple tactics to capture their food. A feeding pike will frequently lie in ambush and then utilize its lightning speed to successfully attack its unsuspecting victim. Pike usually favour other fish as prey, but have also been know to gobble up frogs, mice, ducklings, crayfish, and various insects. They will forage on trout, bluegills, bass, whitefish, walleye, and burbot, although their dietary staples seem to be yellow perch, suckers, and other soft-finned fish. Pike are well known for their voraciousness and will often attack fish of their own size and even of their own species. Anglers have frequently reported finding dead pike with large fish literally jammed in their throats. Many of us have caught a smaller game fish and had a pike come up and clamp down on the fish tat you have hooked. In fact we have managed to net a couple of pike over the years who had bitten into our hooked fish and wouldnt let go even with a net coming down on them. Temperature and food availability are probably the most important variables in a pike’s habitat. Pike migrate to spawning areas in early spring as soon as the ice disappears, and the water reaches a temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Spawning locations usually are shallow bays, coves, rivers, and creeks. Each female can produce up to 600,000 eggs which hatch 12 to 14 days later. The northern pike’s adhesive eggs cling to vegetation. During the summer, pike are often found in weedy, shallow waters of four to six feet in depth. Many anglers, however, believe the larger pike will inhabit waters of 40 feet or more. In winter, pike continue to feed and are often taken through the ice by anglers fishing over weed beds in depths of 10 to 20 feet.
PIKE FISHING TECHNIQUES:
Northern Pike respond well to a wide variety of fishing methods including trolling, casting, ice fishing, and live or dead bait fishing. Even fly fishermen have discovered the Pike’s magnificent sporting qualities. Trolling is usually conducted with heavy short rods, along weed lines or other structures, with medium to shallow running lures such as the red and white Daredevil spoon or large bucktail spinners. Thick weed beds, patches of lily pads, rock piles, and tree stumps are frequently the targets for anglers casting shallow running spinners, spoons and plugs. Spinning or bait casting outfits in the 6 to 7 foot range are used most often.
The ice fisherman finds no difficulty in catching Pike. They are hooked regularly with baited tip-up rigs and will also readily attack spoons, jigs, and specialty lures such as the jigging Rapala. Special jigging rod and reel combinations are a must when fishing through the ice.
Bait fishing is an extremely popular method of taking Pike. Live baits, such as chubs or suckers, are fished with or without a large float between the mid water level and the bottom. Dead baits can also be used successfully with the same methods or by retrieving them slowly. In either case, the Pike is usually allowed to run with the bait and to stop before the hook is finally and firmly set. Fly-fishing for Pike is becoming increasingly popular because these hard fighting fish are so readily available even during the doldrums of summer.
PIKE FISHING TACKLE:
A large array of lures has been used to catch these superb game fish. The angler, however, often depends on old reliable baits such as large plugs, colorful spinnerbaits, and various kinds of spoons. Panther Martin has several large bucktail spinners that are very effective on “Big Pike”. These proven types of lures work especially well when the fish are active and located just off the weeds, in open water. New types of lures are the soft plastic baits, such as the Mister Twister. These are used alone or are rigged with weedless spoons and fluttered through the weeds. Because of the Pike’s numerous teeth, a florocarbon leader should be used with all of these lures. Many anglers, especially fly fishermen, will fashion their own leaders from extremely thin wire or even from 30 – 40 pound test monofilament line. We still strongly suggest the use of florocarbon as it is easier on the fish and to be honest is just better. The fly angler will use heavy gear consisting of a 9-1/2 foot, 9-weight outfit, preferably with a detachable fighting butt. Surface poppers and large, colorful streamers are the fly angler’s usual lure selections
TRY THESE TIPS:
Pike snap at anything that will fit into their jaws, and even a few things that won’t. More often, pike seem off their feed and nothing is tempting enough. Presentation is the key in such a situation. For finicky pike, experiment with lure speed and action. An erratic, stop-and-start retrieve along the surface with a large, floating, minnow imitation, for example, will often draw a strike. In the spring just after the spawn when the fish are still in the shallower sandy bottom bays try using a large black leech like plastic. Cast it out amongst the weed stems and work it very slwoly throught the weeds.
Although pike don’t ‘school,’ in the typical sense, it is very common for pike to congregate in an area with members of their own year-class. If you catch a good pike, don’t assume it’s a lone wolf and leave the area. It’s just as likely there are other big fish near by. Two years ago I caught an 18 lb pike while casting to a shallow weed bed next to a large boulder. On the very next cast I caught a 25 lb pike. Both were caught on a very large spinner bait that was allowed to go right to the bottom and just left there for a bit. When I tightened up my line and then snapped the lure up off of the bottom they hit it HARD. It is just a reflex for them
When the pike are visible but just won’t bite, try dropping a neutral-buoyancy jig or plug in front of it and then doing nothing. The natural defence of many forage species is to freeze until trouble passes. A pike made wary by watching hundreds of retrieves can be tricked by making him watch a sitting duck.
TIGER MUSKELLUNGE
The tiger muskie is the hybrid of the northern pike and muskie. It is usually infertile and has characteristics of both parents. The hybrid has distinct tiger bars on a light background, similar to the barred coloration pattern of some muskie. Its fins and tail lobes are rounded like a northern pike’s but colored like a muskie’s. The cheekscale and mandible-pore patterns are intermediate between a northern pike’s and muskie’s.
The tiger muskie grows slightly faster than either pure-strain parent in the first several years of life. It can exceed 30 pounds. Some tiger muskie occur naturally, though most hybrids are produced in hatcheries. They are useful in stocking because they grow quickly and endure high temperatures better than either paren does. Hybrids are easier to raise in a hatchery than pure-strain muskie, they reach legal size sooner and they are easier to catch. Because tiger muskie are usually sterile, their numbers can be controlled by changing the stocking rate.
Fish managers use the pure-strain muskie in lakes that can sustain naturally reproducing populations. The tiger muskie is reserved for lakes with heavy fishing pressure in and near the Twin Cities. Tiger muskie are subject to the same low possession limit and minimum-size limit that protect pure-strain muskie.
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