Smallest Muskie Caught

[MNMUSKIES]

Well I thought I would start this for something different. Everyone always shows the biggest fish they caught, how about showing us the smallest one you've caught.

This was the first muskie I ever caught. Even though it was small it was still fun catching my very first.

[50inchpig]

22 inches, trolling Mille Lacs in may 2006, 23 inches from alexander in 2006. my first was 36" and looked HUGE at the time.

[tisosy11]

My smallest and only was 28 inches.

[Esox_Magnum]

Pure 30" last summer, 37" Tiger my first muskie and only tiger to date.

[PerchPounder]

I caught a 20" 'ski last sunday aggressive little sucker.

[FishGUY]

Here is a cute little Muskie, with my finger covering half the fish.

I love the spots on her.

[Esoxmn]

Here she is!!

[crazyice]

Some of those are almost neater looking than the bigger versions.

[MuskieSlayer]

Well, my smallest (47") was also my first. Unfortunately, I was alone so no pics. I go for quality over quantity, but not by choice. Given my current drought, I'll take what I can get.

[Nick Kuhn]

About a 26 inch tiger, I'll edit this and put in a pic when I get home.

[cjac]

A tank of a tiger......

[Nick Kuhn]

I should mention mine was caught on a Mepps Muskie Killer. I think it'd be interesting to hear what baits they were caught in. Now if the discussion was smallest fish of any species caught on muskie gear I think it'd be tough to top my 1" perch.

Also at one point I thought I had caught a 10" Muskie in at my cabin. Muskie are not present, but could get there by traveling through 7 miles of stream during high water times. Turns out after further investigation it was a grass pickerel, which I did not know existed in the system. Could be mistaken for a young muskie though. The giveaway was a muskie would not be 10" long at the time of year I caught it, unless it was really a runt from the previous season's hatch. That and it didn't look like a tiger and was too darkly marked for a Wisconsin fish.

[HugoBox]

I still have to figure out how to post photos but my smallest was a 20" tiger on a 10" Suick. By that math I guess I should use a 25" Suick so I can get my first 50" ski!

[BigGrassBass]

I don't have a pic but I got a "chunky" 15 incher last fall! She hit a 5 inch sucker below a bobber.

[Cooter]

I just refreshed a related topic...

[Nick Kuhn]

I should mention I learned something by watching my aquarium bass (it's less than a year old)feed. It's that small fish will attack and successfully consume other fish up to nearly their own size. I watched him kill (by attacking from the side) a minnow nearly his own length. After it was dead he went back and swallowed it head first, tail still sticking out of his mouth.

Larger fish tend to eat more manageable meals.

[b1gf1sh1]

6 or 7 inches twice. a tiger out of silver lake in NSP/Mplwood and the other one in lake minnetonka, might have been a real muskie or a tiger, not sure i was a kid, mabe 16. caught the silver lake one on a fathead under a bobber, and the tonka one on a small spoon.

[cjac]

My tiger above came on a Candy Spin.......

Funny thing is I was laughing about it calling it "cute", my brother that was with me that's trying to get on the muskie board with fish #1 didn't find it so amusing, especially since I had got one the day before with him too!

[Nick Kuhn]

 Originally Posted By: b1gf1sh1

6 or 7 inches twice. a tiger out of silver lake in NSP/Mplwood and the other one in lake minnetonka, might have been a real muskie or a tiger, not sure i was a kid, mabe 16. caught the silver lake one on a fathead under a bobber, and the tonka one on a small spoon.

Fish are usually longer than 6 to 7 when stocked so I question catching a tiger. Possible, but not likely. Very young pike often have vertical markings, found a photo below for you.

So now going to the other thread look at Snowman's more clearly marked fish: pike, ski, or hybrid? Really tough to tell at that age.

[b1gf1sh1]

yep hard to tell. lol. thats why the minnetonka one i can't say. silver has nothing but hybrids so i know that was a tiger. was mabe 15 - 20 years ago i don't know. as far as 6-7'' s thats how i rememmber it. mabe 7 1/2'' i don't know. both were barly long as my hand, only guesstimate i got.

[The Hammer]

My first muskie ever was small too. First cast of the season huge backlash, untangle reel it in and a 22" muskie hit a big buck tail. I was so surprised to catch one on the first cast. Cedar lake near Prior Lake MN.

[mrklean]

not a musky but i caught about a 5 inch pike once

[PDXFisher]

Got my Tonka fish, now I don't have to go back there ever again. I have a hard time figuring that lake out...

[Bassboy1645]

B1gf1sh1,

My smallest muskie was also in silver lake NSP/Maplewood...Im orignially from that area and as a lil kid 7-9 years old I walked and casted the South shorelines for bass in the summer. Those lil skis loved to break off those little black bass rats....Every now and then wed get one exploded out of the water and youd catch it....my Bro and I have like 2-3 combined that are like 2-4 pounds each! youd see the skis on and just hold your rod and pray and hope they didnt break your line...But it was exciting catching them on 6 pound test and light spinning gear none the less!

[b1gf1sh1]

lol. did'nt see the rest of the post in mid of pics, vahn. at the time i got the tonka fish i did'nt know the difference. but the silver lake one i did, but still a little bit of a rookie, so i was'nt sure. the spots and the round tail, and dark background with light markings says it's a pike, esox lucius, a small tiger ,esox masquilucius, same but opposite markings with variations in tail color but not in form. esox masquinongy... same as a tiger but spiked tail and not the black spots. several color and marking variations in muskie also. and of course there's the pores under the bottom jaw and the differences in them, and the reason for them but that's another story. any body wanna take a crack at it?