Growing up in Wisconsin, musky have been a fish
of legendary status. I have always had a deep
respect for these apex predators. I can recall
catching a smaller pike as a child, only to have
it taken away by a musky dockside. As he swam
away with his new found lunch, I still remember
him winking at me as if to say thanks...an image
that will be forever engrained in my memory.
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Ti·ger mus·ky (esox masquinongy x lucius)
One of three members of the pike family living
in the inland northwest. The other two are grass
pickerel and northern pike. Tiger musky are a
sterile cross between the northern pike and the
true muskellunge.
The muskellunge name derives from the Native
American Ojibwa word maashkinoozhe meaning
"ugly pike." Adult tiger muskies are intense
predators that can live for 15-20 years, but most
live an average of less than 9 years. Surveys
show that most tigers grow to an average of 40"
by their 5th year. The Washington State record is
37 lb. 14 oz.
The Idaho record comes out of Little Payette
Lake at an astonishing 44.26 lb. with a 25” girth!
Tiger muskies feed, as the northern pike does, by
waiting near weeds and ambushing its prey. They
have food preferences similar to those of the true
muskies and northern pike. They seem to prefer
larger fish during the summer and fall months
in preparation for the winter months. During the
winter and spring months they prey on smaller,
easier targets due to their slow metabolism.
Chasing
Its varied diet includes, but is not limited to,
yellow perch, suckers, golden shiners, walleye,
smallmouth bass, crayfish, frogs, ducklings,
muskrats, mice, and other small mammals and
birds.
NICK SLOMSKI
COEUR D'ALENE, ID
Cross-breeding of the true muskellunge and the
northern pike occurs naturally where both parent
species occur.