A young muskie hatched in April or May of the year will reach 7”-9” by fall. By the following spring that fish is in the 13” to 15” size. By their third year most have reached a 30” size. Hybrids can reach 50” by their sixth year. Muskies tend to grow long for their early years and then begin to fill (deepen). True muskies have been known to reach thirty years old. Hybrids, because of their rapid early growth, tend to achieve a maximum age of around 18 to 20 years.
The world record muskie is 69# 11 oz. The world record Hybrid is 51# 3 oz. When you see photos of these fish you’ll appreciate how deep these fish were. Most muskie fishermen consider a fish over 50” to be a wonderful trophy. A fish over 55” is considered a world-class trophy. I do not know of a certified/recorded muskie exceeding 64” in length. That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. You’ll hear numerous stories of super fish weighing as much as 102#. A generally accepted basic formula to determine the weight of a muskie is: weight (lbs.) = (girth-in) x (girth-in) x (length-in) divided by 800. So a 50” muskie with a 30” girth would be 30”x 30” = 900 x 50” = 45,000 divided by 800 = 56.25#
Diet
Because the muskie is generally the largest fish in the lake, many believe that they sit at the top of the predator chain, eating all the other fish in the lake. Studies have shown that a muskie’s diet consists mainly of soft-rayed fish, i.e. suckers, minnows, carp, ciscos, and bullheads. In fact studies of muskie diets across North America confirm that 98% of the diet is comprised of fish. 30% were yellow perch and 8.4% were white suckers.
In a 1997 study of 1,092 muskellunge from 34 Wisconsin lakes only 6 walleye and 17 bass were found in the stomach of these muskies. Muskies are opportunistic feeders. They generally consume the most abundant prey species of adequate size. In most muskie waters this means yellow perch. It is important to understand this relationship when choosing artificial lures to pursue a muskie. You will also hear the adage, “Bigger lures mean Bigger fish.” A muskie can consume a fish nearly as large as one-half it’s own body size. To a 50” muskie a 20” sucker is just right. Muskies also prefer cylindrically shaped prey as opposed to wide flat-bodied fish.
Where to find them
Muskies are not just anywhere in the lake. Telemetry studies have shown muskies to have a definite “home range” within a body of water and seldom, except when spawning, leave their home range. In general, if you are fishing a particular location and have a “follow” mark that location and keep returning. Sooner or later you will get a “hook-up” and, hopefully, boat that fish or another who likes the spot you were fishing. Listen to stories told around the bait shops, watch where other muskie fishermen tend to concentrate their efforts. Mark those locations on your map. Soon you will have a number of “spots” to fish. Now, when you head out to fish, stop for a short while and hit each of those locations. We call it our “milk run”.
Muskies primarily identify with structure and weed beds. Weed beds are especially good. They provide cover and shade for a muskie. A muskie is a low light species. A muskie fisherman will refer to “cabbage” weeds. These are in fact, a family of broad-leaved pondweeds, Potamogeton richardsonii, is a broad leaf deep-water weed that makes excellent cover for muskies. On the other hand the Potamogeton crispus or Curled pondweed is a narrowleaf shallow water variety that is seldom productive. Other weeds such as Coontail in deep mats along a breakline will attract more fish than a thin layer of weeds on a flat bottom.
In bright or cold conditions the muskies will be right in the weeds. Pay attention to openings or pockets in the weed beds. Stop reeling your spoon or spinner bait and allow it to flutter down, keeping your line taut. Muskies lying in the weeds will dart out into that pocket to grab your lure as it sinks. Watch the surface of the lake whenever the water is flat-calm and note the emergent flowering tips of these weeds. Then fish the weed edges with crank baits, fish over the weed beds with bucktails, or fish the heaviest “slop” with weedless spoons or rubber jigs (Sluggo) rigged weedless. Slop refers generally to a mixture of lily pads and submerged vegetation, which provides good cover, but also shades the sun thus keeping the water cooler in that area.
Weed beds are very good all year long. In the late fall when the weeds are dying you need to locate the deeper weeds that are still green to find the better muskie fishing. Shore weeds such as Bulrushes and in some areas, wild rice are good especially in those areas where the weeds grow on a firm bottom in water as deep as five feet. Deep beds of bulrushes with an irregular margin offer open pockets that will hold muskies.
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