Polka dot musky

[Long Gray Line]

Ok, need someone that's seen something like this to help me out. I was on a relatively local lake and got a small 17-18" musky on a stick bait. The little guy was the lightest pale green, almost white, with about a dozen absolutely round black 1/4" polka dots evenly spaced on the body. (of course, no camera) After doing some looking on the net, it seems that the Great Lakes strain fish are the "spotted" ones and Leech Lake are generally the barred fish. I thought that the Leech Lake strain was all the DNR stocked in MN lakes. Could it be that the DNR stocked Great Lakes strain or did I accidently hook a mutant? (BTW, there was NO alchohol involved in the catching of this fish)

[Random guy]

Many different things could be happening. One it could be a mutant known as a silver pike, kinda like a chromed pike with smaller, darker markings. Or it could simply have a pigment problem, I just read an artical about a "dipped musky" that the back half of the fish was very pail compared to the front half due to odd pigment conditions. Also musky can have both bars and spots in the same strain, just like brother and sister can have different color hair or eyes. When you say pale green how pale? Street sign green or white with a hint of green like the edges of a dollar bill?

[AWH]

Some of the most defined spots, and coolest looking muskies I've caught have been smaller fish. Having put a lot of fish in the boat, I continue to see this trend with many of the smaller fish having more defined spotted patterns. It leads me to believe that as they grow, they lose some of these markings. If I knew how to post a picture, I'd post one of a 35" fish I caught on Leech last year. It had the coolest spots of any musky I've ever caught.

Aaron

[RuKiddingMe]

AWH, I'd like to see that fish, send me a copy via email and I'll post it for you.

esox23[at]comcast[dot]net

RU

[Random guy]

Nice e-mail Ru, my personal acct. is only off one digit. I swear your stalking me...creepy

[Steve Foss]

AWH: If your shot is digital or is a print scanned into a digital image, you can look on the Photo Sharing board to find out how to post it. There's a how-to thread that's been thumbtacked so it stays toward the top.

[RuKiddingMe]

Jon, that is creepy...

[RuKiddingMe]

AWH's spotted musky. I have to agree with AWH theory about the smaller fish having more defined marks. I think that as the fish grows the skin stretchs and makes the markings less defined.

RU

[MSRiverdog]

That's not a Musky, It's the very rare Negitive Northern.

[AWH]

Thanks for posting the pic, RU. As you can tell, it was a beautiful fall (or winter?) day when that fish was caught. It was a balmy 30 degrees that day with temps in the teens when we got to the lake. I think I like that picture even more because there's snow in the boat. I don't have many like that!

Aaron

[RuKiddingMe]

No problem AWH, that is a very cool pic. I'd like to get a snow pic someday.

RU

[Random guy]

I just went out to my garage to make sure my Leine sign was still hanging up! Ru, you are really starting to creep me out. I'm having something prepared for you, it states; "must stay at least 200 feet from Mr. Petrowske at all times..."

That is one cool looking fish! I have never seen a fish with such defined markings. I think the growth thing makes sense, or is like spots on a fawn? Camo for the young that fades in time? Pretty cool markings either way.

[RuKiddingMe]

200 feet? That's it? Heck I can still follow your musky machine around on the water.

So you like Liene's, yum yum, best beer made hands down.

Take it easy Jon.

RU

[Random guy]

"made by 71 poeple who care" -not that I've spent time staring at the bottle.

[RuKiddingMe]

Nope not at all ... That craked me up...

RU

[Long Gray Line]

Sorry for not getting back sooner. The little guy I got was pale light green like even lighter than the green on a $5 bill. The spots were jet black, uniformly spaced and like I mentioned, there were about a dozen of them on each side. Maybe as they grow, they get more spots since there's more canvas to paint them on. BTW, VERY cool pic of that spotted musky. How much ice were you breaking out of the guides that day??

[AWH]

Ice on the guides? Actually, we had to break through some ice just to get the boat in the water that day. That was a trolling fish, as it was too cold to cast for most of the day. So not a lot of ice on the guides to clear off. But even trolling in those temps, the reels will ice up a bit and the rod guides too after you cast out. Just not a constant thing when you're trolling.

What's fun too is when you get 34 degree water to splash over the side of the boat and get you in the face. Not to mention the numb hands. Then releasing a fish and noticing your bloody hands when you go to start fishing again...not knowing how you got those gashes because you can't feel your hands. Gotta love it, I can't wait 'til fall!!!!

Aaron

[Random guy]

"An uncommon variant called the silver pike is dark silver or greenish gray, rather like the "clear" coloration of the muskie; yet it is a northern pike and has the northern pike's scale and pore pattern." -MN DNR PAGE

"Thank you for all your input on the mysterious silver pike. One of our kind contributors suggested I contact the Manitoba Depart of Fisheries and Oceans, which I did. They were amazingly cooperative, and kind enough to provide some scientific articles, mostly by a fisheries biologist in Minnesota named XXXXXX XXXX. Silver Pike were first identifed scientifically in 1952 in a small lake in NW Minnesota, just across from Manitoba. There were first reported and named in a nearby MN lake in 1930.

XXXXXX describes the "silver pike" as "colored deep blue on the back, shading through lighter blue and gray to white on the belly...the flanks might be more specifically identified as dark silver or grey, sometimes flecked with gold...ventral fins appear tinted with orange and red and may sometimes be speckled with black."

The articles describe the silver pike as a distinct subspecies of pike, different in coloration but with subtle differences in morphology (thinner, bigger eyes, # opercles) as well. They are suggested as larger (per age) and hardier than their more normal cousins, constituting less than 1% of the total pike population in lakes where they even occur.

They are known to sustain exclusive breeding populations where numbers allow, but have also been know to breed with regular pike as well. Thus, they are not merely a color variation, but a distinct genetic group and only a distant cousin of the musky. They have also done hybrid crosses in the laboratory, producing a pike which is very light in color with black spots. Their diet is identical."

Distribution seems to be centered in N. Minnesota/Wisconsin and Eastern Manitoba areas (as we all thought), though they have been isolated reports from near Great Bear Lake NWT, Mississippi Lake around Ottawa, as well in Sweden.

Long Gary Line, my fish doctor buddy sent this to me , he thought it might be hepful to figure out just what the heck you caught.

[gorrilla]

Jon you don't actually think AWH's fish is a northern do you? My numerous courses in Ichthyology would lead me to debate that one.

[Random guy]

NO thats a cool looking Musky, I was refering to Long Gray Line's fish that started this topic. Sorry guess I should have stated that more clearly.