Muskellunge, the Ultimate Freshwater Fish

"Aww, look at the ducklings, mom!" This is a common sight on the northern border lakes of Minnesota. Slurp. One of them is missing, and the speckled predator below slips away silently back down into the cold, clear water. The Muskellunge is truly a fish that looks fearsome, and has a reputation for being one of the most elusive, yet sought after, freshwater game fish.

The largest of all the pikes, the "Muskie" is a heavily built, streamlined predator of cold waters in North America, with a long jaw filled with pointed teeth used to grasp prey items, up to and including small mammals and birds.

The solitary nature of the adult pike means that you don't fish for muskellunge as much as stalk them, carefully planning where you are going to move your boat, and where to place your first cast.

Weighing in as much as 60 pounds or more as adults, tackling the Muskie takes a lot of tackle, so to speak. Heavy bait casting setups are the standard, with large and long plugs being cast out or trolled. Like most pikes, the muskellunge is an ambush predator, typically sitting camouflaged in a reed bed waiting for something interesting to swim by. Crunch.

Make sure you obtain a guide for a good muskie trip, they are possibly the most elusive of all freshwater fish, and trying to find them without assistance can be an exercise in futility. Some anglers go for decades without hooking one, but they have a muskellunge on the line, all that time spent disappears, and the challenge of landing on of the largest freshwater gamefish becomes a memory that will last a lifetime.