WatterBoy Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 I know this isn't a bass, but I'm hoping it's ok to ask this here. Can someone tell me what species of fish this is and how you know that? Thanks! Quote
wisconsin heat Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 Small Northern Pike. They get quite big, you caught a baby. Just today I was fishing at a local lake and helped a young kid unhook one about that size. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pike When they are small they have more vertical markings like that and then as they grow, the pattern becomes more like long streamlined spots. 1 Quote
Super User MarkH024 Posted June 30, 2015 Super User Posted June 30, 2015 Appears to be a pickerel. They have different patterning than a northern Pike Quote
MDBowHunter Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 I have to second that it's a juvenile northern pike Quote
wisconsin heat Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 Appears to be a pickerel. They have different patterning than a northern Pike I don't think there are chain pickeral as far west as owatonna. I may be wrong, but I believe Chain Pickeral are mostly an east-coast fish, ranging out to only about Lake Michigan area and south from there. Quote
desmobob Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 Looks a lot more like a small Tiger Musky to me.... Tight lines, Bob 4 Quote
Super User MIbassyaker Posted June 30, 2015 Super User Posted June 30, 2015 Baby Northern Pike. Compare to: http://www.canadaoutposts.com/articles.php/Baby+Pike USGS data on ranges of: Northern Pike: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=676 Grass Pickerel: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=675 Chain Pickerel: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=681 (although range boundaries are not exact -- I know I've caught pike a little ways beyond these ranges in both MN and MI) Quote
Adleyfishes Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 Looks a lot more like a small Tiger Musky to me.... Tight lines, Bob Bob is correct look it up my brother knew it right away! Quote
Super User MIbassyaker Posted June 30, 2015 Super User Posted June 30, 2015 Small musky: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=679 Small tiger musky: http://www.summitpost.org/tiger-muskie/736991 Could be. But I still think it's a pike. Quote
Brnnoser6983 Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 Appears to be a pickerel. They have different patterning than a northern Pike Juvi northern have a barred appearance when young. I caught one similar to this size. It was about 9 inches or so with the same markings. Quote
Brnnoser6983 Posted June 30, 2015 Posted June 30, 2015 Looks a lot more like a small Tiger Musky to me.... Tight lines, Bob Rounded back tail fins though point to it being pike. Quote
desmobob Posted July 1, 2015 Posted July 1, 2015 And don't forget... all these species commonly hybridize when they exist in the same water body. Could be a Northern Tiger Muskerel! Tight lines, Bob 4 Quote
Super User MarkH024 Posted July 1, 2015 Super User Posted July 1, 2015 I've caught about a million pike in my life from 6" fingerlings to 30+. Half of tht from my last weeks trip in Canada alone, lol. Never seen one of that coloration and patterning at that size. After looking at the fins i suppose it could be a juvenile pike. Quote
Super User HoosierHawgs Posted July 1, 2015 Super User Posted July 1, 2015 I think we can all agree this is some member of the Esox family. 2 Quote
Super User slonezp Posted July 1, 2015 Super User Posted July 1, 2015 Baby pike caught in a river system not a lake. Quote
Dogmatic Posted July 1, 2015 Posted July 1, 2015 I was going to say Pike. Tigers, at least around here(PA), juvenile or not, are more brownish in coloring. Pickerel more spotted than striped. Quote
WatterBoy Posted July 1, 2015 Author Posted July 1, 2015 Baby pike caught in a river system not a lake. Actually, it *was* caught in a lake...Lake Belle Taine in Nevis, MN to be exact. My sister-in-law caught it last weekend at our cabin. They just assumed it was a baby pike, but weren't 100% sure and started to wonder if it might be a tiger musky. Quote
Super User MIbassyaker Posted July 1, 2015 Super User Posted July 1, 2015 The Lake Belle Taine entry on the MN DNR doesn't list musky or pickerel on the survey information: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/showreport.html?downum=29014600 Doesn't mean there aren't any in there, but since tigers are pike-musky hybrids, they would only occur where both parent species are also present, or where they had been stocked. They're also rare, relative to pike and musky, so all things considered, it seems quite a bit more likely to be a young northern pike than anything else. Quote
Super User lmbfisherman Posted July 1, 2015 Super User Posted July 1, 2015 And don't forget... all these species commonly hybridize when they exist in the same water body. Could be a Northern Tiger Muskerel! Tight lines, Bob I was going to say this not to rule out a hybrid. Quote
wisconsin heat Posted July 1, 2015 Posted July 1, 2015 http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/10460-identifying-juvenile-grass-pickerel-and-juvenile-northern-pike/ 1 Quote
WatterBoy Posted July 1, 2015 Author Posted July 1, 2015 The Lake Belle Taine entry on the MN DNR doesn't list musky or pickerel on the survey information: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/showreport.html?downum=29014600 Doesn't mean there aren't any in there, but since tigers are pike-musky hybrids, they would only occur where both parent species are also present, or where they had been stocked. They're also rare, relative to pike and musky, so all things considered, it seems quite a bit more likely to be a young northern pike than anything else. I believe there used to be musky in this lake, but that was a LONG time ago. There is an annual fishing contest on the lake each summer and one of the contest teams caught a musky one year, but I bet that was 10+ years ago by now. Quote
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