grass pickerel?

[mainbutter]

Do grass pickerel (or any esox other than northerns and muskies) live in mn? I'm compiling a list of life-list MN species and want to make sure I get all the less-common ones

[mrklean]

tiger musky that kinda exotic

[Nick Kuhn]

Maybe in the very southern reaches. My dad actually caught one a few years back in our lake (Polk County, WI). We think it was a released aquarium pet though. Initially thought it was a muskie (as it is possible if one swam several miles up an intermittent outlet), but the size just didn't make any sense. It was too large to be a YotY muskie and too small to be a yearling. It was about 9" long and caught in June. That's almost full grown for a grass pickerel though, so you have to be fishing small.

[Schollmeier]

The only Esox species in MN are Musky and Pike. You might find a stray Grass Pickerel in MN but there aren't any known reproducing populations within the state.

If you want a Grassie, WI has some in the southern parts.

Not sure if you saw it, but in the Roughfish forum I posted my spreadsheet-list for MN in the "checklist" post. Probably more in depth than you want but there shouldn't be any established species missing on it.

[Shawn Kellett]

We've caught them in Iowa. In fact one of our guys probably had the state record but we didn't even think about it at the time. You could find them in the southern part of the Mississippi I would guess.

[Crm7290]

I would assume that you can find them in the river. People probably get them every now and then but assume they are small or different pike.

In Illinois we have them but rarely catch them. They supposedly taste good?

[mainbutter]

Thanks guys! I probably won't be seeking them out anytime soon, since they may not even be in the state at all.

Jeez crossing all the rough fish off the list is going to be a (fun) chore!

[Crm7290]

seems like you have a pretty nice task ahead of you! How are you going to catch sturgeon and paddlefish and the like? They aren't common and most likely rarely caught?

[mainbutter]

I'm not going to target filter feeders that are "accidental" catches, so paddlefish are off the list.

Sturgeon will likely be a trip to the rainy some spring, but unfortunatly not this year.

Thanks a ton for that checklist Schollmeier, I'd read that thread but missed the link!

Here's the thread he mentioned:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2365028/Checklist#Post2365028

[Schollmeier]

When I made the spreadsheet the idea was to be "complete," even though there are a few species that are highly unlikely to be caught legitimately (Paddlefish & the lampreys come to mind). That said, I do know a guy who worked in SE Asia for a while and learned how the locals catch Silver Carp (another filter feeder) with legitimate hook & line angling method so it may not be impossible (just extremely improbable).

The extirpated species are included more as a historical point for clarity if you happen to read anything confusing in older documents.

And I included species of all sizes so you can choose if you want to angle for a 2" fish or not and where your cut-off would be. (I've caught fish down to about 1.5" so with the right hooks it is possible).

That way people can copy it and modify to their own purposes. If you want to exclude all fish below 10," 6," all the filter feeders, all the parasites, etc.

[Schollmeier]

Thanks a ton for that checklist Schollmeier, I'd read that thread but missed the link!

Your Welcome!

On the Grassie in MN - if guys like Konrad Schmidt can't find and survey a species in MN, I know I'm probably not going to spend my time looking for one - considering that they do fish Blue Sucker, Crystal Darter, Deepwater Sculpin, etc.

Oh and crossing off the "rough"fish has some of the toughest (and most fun) parts. Unless you get serious about the small fish, some of those will drive you nuts. I'm having enough trouble with some of the common ones, I can't imagine attempting Ninespine Stickleback, Gravel Chub, or Crystal Darterss...