Muskellunge
The muskellunge, maybe the most glamorous game fish in North America. Known familiarly as the muskie and formally as Esox Masquinongy, it is native to the Great Lake and Appalachian states.
The muskellunge is a pike, closely related to the northern pike. It is the giant of the pike family, frequently attaining weights of 30 to 50 pounds. The world record taken on sport tackle, 69 pounds, 15 ounces and 64 1/2 inches long, was caught in the St. Lawrence River. A 102-pounder has been reported. A 30-pound fish probably would be a little over four feet in length; a 50-pounder about 4 1/2 feet.
The muskellunge, at first glance, looks much like the other pikes. It has the long, slender body, with dorsal and anal fins located far back, the duck-like "bill" and the mouth full of long, sharp teeth. But on the muskie the lower halves of both cheek and gill cover are scale-less. Also, the northern pike has whitish or yellowish spots on a darker greenish background. The muskie usually is a grayish olive color with darker spots which tend to form oblique bands.
The muskie is a voracious predator. Fry 15 days old and 1 1/2 inches long eat live forage fish. They consume 6.4 percent of their body weight per day. Adults eat mostly minnows, suckers and shad. They seem to be opportunists and when hungry will eat any living thing they can catch and swallow. Average growth of muskies is reported as 10.5,17,22.4,26.4 and 30.2 inches at the end of successive years of life and a 48-inch fish would be around 14 years old.
Male muskies mature in their fourth spring, females in their fourth or fifth spring. Spawning occurs in April. Water temperatures range from 50 to 60 degrees F., but 55 seems to be about the optimum. Pairs of fish cruise through weedy shallows, depositing eggs indiscriminately; no nest is prepared, the eggs receive no care. They hatch in six days at 60 degrees F. Eggs and fry are especially sensitive to water temperature fluctuations. This, along with scarcity of forage of a proper size and predation by water insects and other fish are considered the principal limiting factors to reproduction.
Muskies can be propagated successfully in hatcheries. The greatest problem is providing sufficient live forage of the right size and kind at the right time. This involves providing water fleas which are used when the fry first begin to feed and then live forage fish. Successive broods of carp fry are produced in order to have the right sixes available. The smallest ones eaten are scarcely more than a thread and less than half an inch long. Later, when the muskies are placed in ponds, minnows and threadfin shad are provided for forage.
The muskies like clear, weedy waters, In spite of their wariness, they frequently are caught in water which is quite shallow. They will strike all manner of lures when feeding but at other times will not be tempted by anything. Large plugs, spoons, spoon or spinner combinations with huge feather or bucktail baits are used as surface lures. Live suckers, large minnows or sunfish may be effective enough to be worth the trouble to obtain an transport. Heavy casting tackle is usually used to give a better chance of landing the large fish. A short, stiff rod and a strong line are needed to play a fish of this size and a wire leader is a necessity because of the sharp teeth. The people who landed muskies accidently while fishing for bass or crappies were either very lucky or very skillful. Most muskies hooked this way probably make a run and keep right on going, taking with them whatever part of the tackle that happens to break loose.
Muskie fishermen are a breed apart. They tend to be loners and are a secretive lot. One has been known to go back season after season, trying to catch a giant old mossyback which hangs out in a certain hole of water. He's there because he's been seen and a few times he's been hooked for a while, but he's never been landed. It gets to be a sort of personal vendetta, like Captain Ahab and the great white whale, Moby Dick. Of course, only a few muskie fishermen get carried away to that extent, but many experts will fish a whole season and never boat a fish. And it isn't hart to see how a single lunker muskie would make the season for any fisherman.
So, fishermen, you have your chance at a new kind of sport. If you want to gear up for it, change your fishing habits and risk your sanity, you can become a muskie fisherman. Or you can fish for bass or redeye just as usual and wait for the lightening to strike. Either way, it's an exciting possibility.