Lake Francis Case – Northern Pike: Daily limit of 4 with a possession limit of 8.

The Northern Pike is a predator fish and is one of the easiest fish to catch, the reason is because the Northern is so willing to bite lures or bait. Northerns fillets are chunky white and many anglers believe they taste as good as Walleye.

Northern Pike and Muskie’s look alike and many people have trouble figuring out the differences in the two. The easiest and quickest way to tell a Northern Pike from a Muskie is that the Northern has light markings on a dark body background, while Muskies usually have dark markings on a light background. Another way to note differences in the two is that a Northern has five or fewer pores on the underside of its jaw and has a rounded tail fin, while a Muskie has six or more pores on the underside of the jaw and it has a pointy tail fin.

Northern Pike spawn in late March to early May. Though they will occasionally lay eggs under the ice, they usually begin moving into small streams when the water temperature is 39 to 52 degrees. Females deposit up to 100,000 eggs at random, the adhesive eggs stick to flooded vegetation for two weeks before hatching. Northern Pike feed on plankton but soon switch to a diet consisting of fish.

Northerns are built for quick acceleration, this makes it possible for them to ambush their prey from cover, seizing fish with their needlelike teeth. Northern Pike can't afford to use up a lot of their energy in pursuit of food; so they concentrate on larger meals. Northerns are known to swallow fish a third their own length. Common foods for the Northern is yellow perch, suckers, minnows, leeches, frogs, crayfish and other smaller Northern Pike.

Musky/Musky Cross: Daily limit of 1 with a possession limit of 2.

The Muskellunge “Muskie” is one of the largest and most elusive. A Muskie has the ability to eat fish and sometimes ducklings or even small muskrats. Muskie’s wait in weed beds and then lunges forward, clamping its large, tooth-lined jaws onto its prey. The Muskie then swallows the stunned or dead victim head first.

Muskies are light in color and usually have dark bars running up and down their long bodies. Muskies range in color usually they are silver, light green or light brown in color.

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