Muskellunge
Pike and muskieEsox masquinongy · also called muskie, musky
The muskellunge is the fish of ten thousand casts and the most tightly regulated freshwater gamefish in much of its range. Confusing one with a pike can be an expensive mistake, and the jaw pore count settles it definitively.
Quick facts
- Appearance
- Very long and silvery-green to light brown, marked with dark vertical bars or spots on a light background — or sometimes almost unmarked. Tail lobes are noticeably pointed.
- Typical size
- 5–35 lb
- Waters
- lake, river
- Regulations
- Minimum sizes of 40 to 54 inches and limits of one fish per day or per season are common. Many waters are catch and release only. Verify before keeping one.
How to confirm it
- Dark markings on a light body — the reverse of a pike.
- Six or more pores under each side of the lower jaw. Pike has five or fewer.
- Cheek and gill cover both scaled only on the upper half.
- Pointed tail lobes rather than rounded.
What it is confused with
One check settles each of these.
Count the jaw pores — six or more means muskie. And check the pattern: dark on light is muskie, light on dark is pike.
Tiger muskie
The pike-muskie hybrid has bold wavy vertical bars and rounded tail lobes, and is usually stocked and separately regulated.
Why this matters beyond curiosity
- Look-alike species often carry different limits. Walleye and sauger, black and white crappie, pike and muskie, blue and channel catfish — each pair can have different sizes, seasons and daily limits in the same water.
- Check it before the fish goes in the livewell. Most of the tests on this site take seconds and are far easier on a fish you are still holding.
- If you cannot tell, release it. That is the answer that is never wrong, and it is the one a warden will not argue with.
- Regulations are set by your state or province and change annually. This site identifies fish; it does not tell you the rules. Check the current regulations for the water you are on.