# HELP!... What kind of fish is this?



## chrisjan_81 (Sep 13, 2003)

Well, I caught this fish this afternoon on a tip-up. Its a little lake, with a good pike population in it, caught 4 bass yesterday along with 8 pike (lengths of the bass were 15, 15, 18, and 21.5  )... its a good fishery, and a while back (not sure when) it was stocked with a few muskies... but only the one time. This fish fought harder than a pike the same size, and when I got him on the ice I thought; "MUSKIE!" I took a couple quick pictures, counted the pores on his jaw and got him back in the water quick.

So i got home, and got online to check things (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

Pike: 5 or less pores; spots; and rounded caudal fin.

Muskie: 6-9 pores; clear, spotted, or barred coloration; and pointed caudal fin.

Tiger Muskie: 5 or 6 pores; bars and spots, one source said it can even alternate bar/spots/bar/spots; and a rounded caudal fin.

http://www.muskie.name/tiger3.jpg

And a couple more important things; on my end, I had assumed Tiger Muskies ONLY come about because of us, not nature... which I found out is incorrect... and I did not know Muskies have a *pointed tail fin*... and this fish definitely has a *rounded fin*.

Sorry this is long... There were 5 pores on each side of it's jaw... but what do you guys think? Weird pike, one of the few Muskies, or one of Mother Nature's Tiger Muskies??


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

Definitely a musky maybe a hybrid one.


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## walleyeatsag (Dec 20, 2007)

http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...b=13lo6i9it&sigi=127q7s3gn&.crumb=ISyDcdKs2cd


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## aslongasitpullsback (Dec 30, 2005)

looks like a chain pickerel.... and a large on at that.... Its not a muskie....


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## blittle913 (Feb 21, 2007)

Congrats on a nice musky

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## Cpt.Chaos (May 28, 2006)

Tiger muskie, definetely not a chain pickerel. Chain pickerel have horizontal bars and are not very large at all. Pike would tend to have more bean shaped markings on the side of them.


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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

limige said:


> Definitely a musky maybe a hybrid one.


Im goin with this. Ive seen some tiger musky before and they werent like that as i recall. Colors are kinda off for a tiger musky


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## JimtenHaaaf (Apr 17, 2009)

Hiya! I'd say it definately looks like a chain pickerel. Not a muskie, and for sure not a tiger muskie. Natural Tigers are very rare, and have only been documented in LSC. What lake were you fishing on? I'd be interested to know what small lake you were on that used to stock muskies, but no longer does. I don't know of any that were only stocked 1 time. PM me if you'd like. I'm not a huge ice-fisherman, so I can PROMISE that you won't see me on your lake.


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## RippinLipp (Sep 12, 2008)

Im going with chain pickeral.. A buddy got one a few years back that was a rather large fish.. Pics were taken and the fish was eaten.. After a debate on what it was the pics were sent to the dnr for confermation.. It came back as a chain pickeral.. The dnr said it would of been a record, but because it was a catch and keep with no weight recorded they could not accept it.. Also i have growen up in a area where a lake was stocked with tiger musky and I have caught my fare share and have seen others caught.. This fish has more of a chain piceral pattern then the baring pattern of a tiger musky... 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## josheupmi (Dec 9, 2008)

My vote is chain as well...I have some pics my grandfather showed me and it looks very similar.

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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

Looks like a pike to me. No way that's a muskie, or a tiger. Muskies and tigers are dark marks on a light background. Pike are light marks on a dark background. Here is a pic of a Tiger............note, still dark marks on a light background:


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## BirdyGSP (Aug 21, 2010)

Pike, maybe a hybrid Pike.


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## northlyon (Dec 27, 2009)

this is a pic of a chain pickeral. Haven't found one that looks like yours yet.
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## Bangins (Jan 15, 2012)

Looks like a Pike with a strange pattern, not a musky nor a chain pickerel, I've caught one similar but still had spots, and a few stripes like that

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## mondrella (Dec 27, 2001)

It looks like a very large grass pickerel

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## casscityalum (Aug 27, 2007)

Trash fish either way :lol: jk

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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

cross between a snakehead and a pike:help:


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## Ice Scratcher (Jan 29, 2011)

mondrella said:


> It looks like a very large grass pickerel
> 
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I agree with that. How big was this fish? I'm guessing but I'll say 12-14"ish...?


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## PITBULL (May 23, 2003)

Gotta get Walleye Mike to look at it, Not unlike a Zander is unscrupulously substuited for walleye It could be the european version of a pike, I think is a Pander. Another invasive species.


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## perchpile88 (Dec 30, 2009)

It appears to be a second generation (Tiger with Northern). In some very rare cases hybrids can actually be fertile. 
Cool fish thanks for posting.


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