The Muskellunge is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. The name is derived from the Ojibwe word maashkinoozhe, meaning “ugly pike”. I don’t agree that they are ugly. Now, “Scary Pike” or “Ferocious Pike” are terms I can agree with a lot quicker. Anglers generally refer to them by their local common names, including Ohio Muskellunge, Great Lakes Muskellunge, Barred Muskellunge, Ohio River Pike, Allegheny River Pike, Jack Pike, Unspotted Muskellunge, Wisconsin Muskellunge, and of course my favorite Muskie.
The muskellunge is one of the larger and rarer of the fresh water sport fish. Muskie have been known to eat almost anything it can get in its huge mouth including any smaller fish, water fowl, snakes, muskrats and chipmunks. It is willing to bite any small animal that decides to take a swim. It waits, hiding motionless in sunken bushes, logs, weed beds and then quickly spurts forward clamping its large tooth-lined jaws onto its prey and gulping down the stunned or dead victim.
Muskies are lighter colored than their cousin the Northern Pike. They usually (but not always) have dark bars running up and down their long torpedo shaped bodies while the Northern Pike have light markings on a dark body. depending of genetic factors, water conditions and other environmental factors Muskies come in a variety of shades of silver, light green, or light brown. The best method of identification is to count the pores on the underside of their jaw. A Muskie has six or more pores while a Northern has five or fewer. Also, the lower half of a Muskie’s cheek has no scales and the tips of their tail are more pointed than those of the Northern Pike.
I lived in northern Wisconsin as a youth. Evelyn, a classmate of mine, her family home was on the shore of a local lake. On week ends and during the summer months she would cast a huge bobber into the lake with a 10-12 inch live sucker rigged on the hook below it, then anchor her rod securely on shore and go about her daily routine. Periodically, she would take a break from her chores and check her bait and see what was happening. Sometimes she would go for a weeks without even a bite. But every year we were in high school she caught several trophy Muskie using this technique. She always did better than most of the adult anglers in the community. Patience and persistence are all that was required she would say.
Now
Read about my first Muskie
My dad’s first Muskie
Dustin’s Muskie