Pike or Musky?

[Alan]

A few questions on each fish if you will..

Pike & Musky

Which is funner to catch & why?

Which is easier to catch & why?

Which puts up a better fight?

[solbes]

One is known as the fish of 10,000 casts. And the other one could be described as the fish of every other cast!

Apart from, that I can't answer your other two questions because I haven't gotten to 10,000 yet.

[polarsusd81]

Pike and Musky. Musky and Pike. Both are great species to catch and a lot of fun. In my experience, Pike tend to be a bit more fun to catch, because a lot of times they will bite on just about anything, including the micro tiny crappie and gill jigs all the way up to giant cranks and jerk-baits. It is a lot of fun to hook into a big pike on light tackle. That being said, you won't find a person that catches a ski with a frown on their face. They are both a blast to catch.

Easier to catch, are probably pike because they are far more numerous that muskies, but they are generally smaller. Many lakes become stunted with small pike, which is a problem with a lot of waters near the metro.

I think as far as fight goes, they are both pretty equal. Pike give you a nice drag screeming run and just keep pulling. Muskies on the other hand are known to leap into the air and provide some fantastic acrobatics. So it is a toss up here.

[hoggs222]

Muskie: More elusive

Northern (Snot Rocket, Hammerhandle): Not so much

I know northern are fun to catch. I couldn't tell you what a muskie is like to catch. Like solbes, I have not hit 10,000 casts yet.

[Mr. B]

For me the Muskie is the most fun to catch. There is nothing like getting your picture taken with a monster Muskie. Besides being big all that works makes it so worth it.

That being said big Pike are a blast as well. It is the small Pike that can be difficult.

But any day you are catching fish is a good day.

[Nick Kuhn]

Musky are more exciting to catch simply because of their large size. Pike are a lot easier to catch, try muskie fishing and odds are you'll put a couple pike in the boat before your see your first ski. As far as fights go? Surprisingly they fight very differently. Northerns rarely jump, they stay down and they run. Very common for a bigger pike to go from 50 feet behind the boat to 50 feet in front in no time flat. Muskie don't make the fast runs, they'll jump, take it straight down to weeds, and ever perform the gator death roll. First one I hooked fought like a 20 lb bullhead, rolling and flopping whichever way it could to try free the hook. One we had on in the same spot 5 minutes later was a jumper, cleared the water completely 3 times.

[EBass]

 Quote:

Which is funner to catch & why?

Which is easier to catch & why?

Which puts up a better fight?

Musky - Grow bigger - look cooler - kinda rare.

Pike are easy to catch - they'll bite on anything most of the time.

I'd think a Musky would fight harder, but I'd like to fight a 40" pike and a 40" ski back to back and then I'll tell ya:)

I've caught 5 in my life and 3 were 38" and 2 lil fellas.

[HossFisher]

hmmm Musky or PIke?? I'll take catfish!!!

[Tippman]

Muskies are the King of Fish!

Big pike are fun too but they still don't compare. Small pike are below eyes, bass, and panfish in my book.

[TrophyEyes]

Me too Solbes.

[cjac]

Muskie fishing is a blast! We have some of, if not the best waters in the country right here in MN for both, in the Metro area on top of that, especially for muskie. Tonka, White Bear, Indy, Waconia...and so on. Let's not forget the 25+ lakes managed for tiger muskies.

The mind game of having a 4 foot long fish (or bigger!) follow your lure up to the boat, spinning her in circles on a figure 8, will she eat or not???, well......that's addicting.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Nothing against muskies or the people who target them, but I'd rather have a big ole pike on the end of my line.

[Grant Pearson]

pike: easier to catch

Muskies: harder to catch, but funner to catch. When you hook into one, you're in for a ride. Even when they're "small," they really aren't all that small

[fishcast]

Never specifically fished muskie, but have tried for large northern mostly around the metro.

To me it sounds like much of the thrill of muskie(besides them being large) is that there are more boatside strikes and large fish eat topwater in shallow water more of the year than large northerns.

While little northerns can be extremely aggresive and easy to catch, I think it has mostly to do with the fact that they are young (haven't seen many lures before) and in many lakes stunted and in need of food.

I have physically seen a number of large northerns pass on lures I have presented to them, and shortly after it leaves have a little pike pound it. I think a lot has to do with a matter of conditioning.

I would bet its harder to catch a "trophy" size northern in MN than it is a "trophy" muskie.

They are each awesome fish, and both a first muskie, and a large MN northern are on my list to catch sooner than later hopefully.

[fish4itall]

Both of these fish are great in their own way. I've fished for musky almost exclusivley for the last 3 summers and never once have I got sick of it. You have so many variables that you need to take into account when fishing for any fish, but especially when it's a top predator based simply of the fact that they don't need to feed as often. You need to concentrate on the feeding windows and make the most of an "hot bite" you happen upon. That being said i'll take a musky any day of the week over a northern. It's the thrill of the chase and finally getting a musky to commit after fishing for 10,000 casts. It can wear on you, but if you stick it out you will be greatly rewarded with a fight not many people have experienced. Pike are a great fish to, but I like the thrill of the chase for a musky. It's like bowhunting on water to me.

[ironman]

 Originally Posted By: Alan

A few questions on each fish if you will..

Pike & Musky

Which is funner to catch & why?

Which is easier to catch & why?

Which puts up a better fight?

Which is more fun to catch and why?

I would have to say "catching" a muskie is more fun. Just for the fact you have to put more work into it so therefore its more rewarding.

Pike are definetely easier to catch. I feel confident that most people who fish have caught at least one slimer.

I actually will give this award to the pike as well. I've caught both and my bigger, longer and more tense fights have come from the gators.

With that said, you would have to catch a 40inch plus northern against the same size muskie to really know. My biggest pike was 36", not a monster but pretty nice. There are clearly more pike in a body of water than muskies, but I would guess that a true trophy northern is more rare than a trophy muskie. At least in this state. The only solution is to fish for both big pike and big muskies at the same time..its a win/win.

[ec30_06]

Whatever one decides to bite first.

[Sandmannd]

Never caught a muskie, but I would put them ahead of Pike. Would just be an awesome fish to get in. For numbers, Pike, for size, Muskie. Hope I get one this year.

[Grant Pearson]

Shane-

I'll do my best to try to get you on to a musky. inch for inch, pound for pound, Muskies fight a lot better than northerns do. My largest Northern to date is a 46.5 inch gator and my largest 'ski to date is 48.5 inches. The muskies that I've caught have sonsistantly fought better than northerns. That's what I've noticed though.

[slipperybob]

 Originally Posted By: Alan

A few questions on each fish if you will..

Pike & Musky

Which is funner to catch & why?

Which is easier to catch & why?

Which puts up a better fight?

Funner - Pikes for shear numbers and aggressiveness/willingness to bite down on just about anything from dead bait to artificials to even a hot dog or a duck feather on a hook. Makes them easy to catch though. Except that big pike that just seems to stare at you from the water's edge with those icy gator eyes.

Not sure about the better fight, but that depends on fish size and gear quality. Since my catching them are mostly by accident, with undersized gear.

[DT10 Guy]

I only have 2 skies under my belt with the biggest one only around 7-8 lbs. i did catch it on 4lb line crappie fishing and it was the best fight i have ever had!

[Grum]

It all depends on your definition of fun. Northerns for the most part around the Metro are easy to catch but much smaller, still fun and good fighters.

Muskies you may have to really work for, so you might not get that instant satifaction or not at all for a while.(10,000 casts takes a while) but you will have plenty of time to practice throwing large lures and learning different techniques.

Either way, both fun in my opinion.