Sharp-toothed Muskellunge Lurk in Freshwater Lakes of Wisconsin

“So right here on my thumb, I (have) a three-quarter inch scar where the tooth got me,” says Greg Sass, Ph.D. Greg is the fisheries research team leader from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This was not a shark attack, but an encounter with a sharp-toothed fish called a muskellunge or musky. He also shares a story about a woman who “was hanging her feet off a dock…and a musky bit her (and you could) see the exact jaw and teeth placement" on her foot. Don't worry about swimming in freshwater lakes though. Greg cautions that the dock story is extremely rare. He says, “the chances of getting bit by a musky are probably almost about the same as getting struck by lightning.” The fish just make mistakes, sometimes.

What is a Muskellunge?

Muskellunge or musky is derived from Ojibwe Native American word, maashkinoozhe (mASH-KIN-OO-ZE), which means “ugly pike”. These speedy fish have a torpedo shaped body with rust-colored dorsal fins and anal fins near their tail. They have vertical bars and/or stripes on a lighter colored slime-coated body. Northern pikes are similar in appearance but they have light spots on a darker background. Like northern pikes, muskies have a mouth full of backward angled pointed teeth.

Side bar “Prehistoric Fish”: Northern pike and musky have a similar body appearance. These include an elongated body shape, protracted snout, fin positions and teeth. These characteristics arose over 60 million years ago, close to the age of dinosaurs.

What do Muskies eat?

Muskies are at the top of the food chain and will eat perch, blue gill and other smaller fish. Sometimes they will also eat small mammals and amphibians. They are able to consume something up to two thirds of their body length!

Geographic Location in the Northern Hemisphere

One may find northern pikes throughout the northern hemisphere, yet, the majority of muskies are found only in Wisconsin. The original muskies were in the headwaters of the Chippewa, Flambeau and Wisconsin rivers in northern Wisconsin. Their habitat expanded into southern Wisconsin from stocking by the DNR. Stocking is the act releasing artificially raised fish into a particular water source. The DNR raise fish in controlled pond environments called hatcheries. Fish in these ponds hatch from wild eggs collected from the lakes that they will return to. The DNR stocks lakes and rivers with a variety of fish including muskies to not only expand recreational fishing opportunities but to help maintain original fish populations.

The State Fish of Wisconsin

The Ojibwe Native Americans in Wisconsin fished for muskies before the arrival of settlers. When Wisconsin’s logging industry diminished in the early 1900s, tourism from musky anglers helped to fund the schools in northern Wisconsin. Even famous gangsters such as Al Capone and John Dillinger came up to fish musky in the early 1900s while hiding out from police in Chicago, IL. The musky officially became the state fish in 1955 due to its prevalence and popularity.

Why are Muskies Fun to Fish?

Allusiveness

Musky are “the fish of 10,000 casts,” so patience is key. These fish are solitary predators at the top of the food chain in lakes. One may only find a single musky within 1-3 acres of a lake. One acre is approximately three quarters the size of a football field. Musky are territorial and do not leave their specific area of the lake except during breeding. They will hide in shallow weedy areas or near drop offs to deeper water.

Size

Muskies can be large! The average length of a musky is 36 inches or the length of a small Labrador Retriever. In 1949, Louis Spray caught a record setting musky from the Chippewa River headwaters in Wisconsin. It was almost 70 pounds and over five feet or the average height of a ten-year-old! Since 2012, there has been a strict catch and release regulation in Wisconsin for fish that are under 40 inches in length. Some lakes that size is 50 inches to encourage the growth of larger fish. It takes about nine years for a female musky to reach 40 inches and muskies can live for 18 to 30 years. Unlike other fishes, anglers are interested in the size over the quantity of musky catches.

The Catch

These fish will follow lures, fake baits, back to boats and not strike. Even a follow by a musky is an exciting day to tell someone about. If one does bite, the fight is an exhilarating battle. It may completely jump out of the water to get rid of the hook or dive under a boat or stump, tangling and possibly breaking the line. If the angler manages to get the fish out of the water, they must use caution as their teeth can break skin. Muskies can frustrate an angler by day and then haunt their dreams by night.

Side bar “Wisconsin Department of Natural Sciences Research on Muskies”:
The WI DNR is conducting a 20-year study on the impact of stocking on musky size in lakes. Researchers injected tags (like a dog microchips) into hatchery raised fish to track fish size overtime. A scanner is placed over a fish’s abdomen to read its unique tag when a fish is caught either by shore netting or angling. DNR officials will do this annually or even citizen scientist anglers have scanners to help the DNR’s study. Preliminary results in 2020 after ten years show that too many musky in a lake may affect their ultimate size. Since the study has begun, the average size of fish caught has gone down from 52” to 48”, and the average weight has decreased by ten pounds. This decrease in growth may be from the competition of food resources. The results from this study will help the DNR decide if it needs to adjust stocking practices or catch and release policies to help anglers catch larger fish. Check out the paper by Hermus et al. for more information.

How Can One Catch a Musky?

Everyone has their special fishing gear and lore or traditions for success. There are hundreds of different lures that anglers try to snag a musky with. Some of these lures are over 12-20 inches in length! Dedicated musky anglers will plan their vacations around full and new moons in hopes of greater success. If one is new to musky fishing, a fishing guide is highly recommended to point out parts of lakes inhabited by muskies. Greg from the WI DNR says that despite all the lore and gimmicks out there, “most of the muskies I've caught in my life, I haven't tried for them, I was fishing for bass or something else and (I) got a musky.”

Glossary

Dorsal fin: A fin located on top of a fish.

Anal fin: A fin located on the underside of a fish near the tail fin.

Headwaters: A network of streams that are the source of a river.

Stocking: The act of releasing hatchery raised fish into various water sources to supplement existing populations or to create new populations.

Fish hatcheries: A controlled pond environment where fish are raised from wild-collected eggs for use in stocking efforts.

Anglers: People who fish with a rod and a line.

Lures: A type of artificial bait that tries to attract predatory fish by its movement, appearance and vibrations in the water.

Bibliography:

Willow Creek Press. Musky Country : The Book of North America’s Premier Big Game Fish. Minocqua, Wi, Willow Creek Press, 1995.

Oehmcke, Arthur A, et al. The Wisconsin Muskellunge : Its Life History, Ecology, and Management. Madison, Wis., Dept. Of Natural Resources, 1977.

Simonson, Tim. Muskellunge Management Update: Publication FH -508-2012. WI Department of Natural Resources, 2012.

Simonson, Tim. Musky Fact Sheet PUBL FM-705. WI Department of Natural Resources, 2012.

WI Department of Natural Resources. “Wisconsin’s State Fish: The Muskellunge | Wisconsin DNR.”Dnr.wisconsin.gov, 2012, dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Fishing/musky.

Hermus, John W., et al. “Growth of Known‐Age Muskellunge Stocked into Northwestern Wisconsin Lakes.”North American Journal of Fisheries Management, vol. 40, no. 5, 10 Sept. 2020, pp. 1344–1350.

Sass, Greg. Interview with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Research Team Leader. 21 July 2022.

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