Muskellunge are found in northern Wisconsin lakes, northern Minnesota, and the Great Lakes region north to Canada, the St. Lawrence River, Hudson Bay, and in the Upper Mississippi Valley and northward, although the species extends as far south as Chattanooga, TN in the lower Tennessee River Valley. They prefer cold, clear lakes and large rivers, where they lurk among the weeds rocks and other structural objects, to rest. The fish forms 2 home ranges, a shallow summer range and a deep summer range, the shallow range is much smaller than the deep range. A musky will continually move in the ranges searching for food and the correct water temperature.
They closely resemble the Northern pike and pickerels in both appearance and behavior; all are members of the Esocidae family. Like pike or pickerel, their bodies are elongated with flat heads and dorsal, pelvic and anal fins set far back of the head, which is the classic lie-in-wait or ambush predator body plan. Growing to lengths of 61–154 centimetres (2–5 feet) and weights of over 30 kilograms (66 pounds), muskellunge are a light silver, brown or green with dark vertical markings which tend to break up into spots. In some cases markings may be absent altogether, especially in turbid habitats. This is in contrast to northern pike which have dark bodies with light markings. A sure way of distinguishing the two similar species is by counting the sensory pores of the lower jaw. A muskie will have seven or more, the northern pike never has more than six. The lobes of the tail fin in muskellunge also come to a sharper point than those of northern pike. Muskies have no scales on the lower half of their gill cover.
Muskies prey upon anything small enough to fit in their mouths, including other fish, crayfish and frogs, to ducklings, snakes, muskrats and other small mammals. Their bill-shaped mouths are large with many sharp teeth. Muskies engulf their prey head-first, sometimes in a single gulp. Although the animals are capable of swallowing something up to 30 percent of their total length, selection must be made carefully. Muskellunge are sometimes found dead with their last meal lodged in their throats. Large Muskies have been known to eat fully grown ducks.
Anglers seek mature muskies as coveted trophies or simply for a good fight. Anglers most often use lures of conventional configurations, but extremely large size, to fish for muskie. The average lure used to catch Muskie is 8-12 inches (20-30 centimeters) in length. Larger lures can also be used to catch large muskies, and many of these types of lures can range from 14-26 inches (35-66 centimeters) in length.
The Muskellunge (Muskie) goes by other names such as muskie, musky, Ohio Muskellunge, Barred Muskellunge, Ohio River Pike, Allegheny River Pike, Jack Pik.
