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Posts: 234
Location: Rochester, New York | Does anyone know why muskies are less cannibalistic then pike.
I was only able to find one instance online of a muskie that tried to eat another muskie. |
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Location: PA Angler | They are the same. I stopped at my fish hatchery and they said the bigger ones eat the smaller ones so they gotta get them out to keep them about the same size. They eat what they can. |
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Posts: 310
Location: Not where I want to be! | If it moves it's food. They don't know who is who! All fish are cannables, they have to be to survive.
Edited by wavridr 3/19/2026 11:02 AM
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| It starts early! I went to the Michigan hatchery at Wolf Lake once, and got a tour of the muskie area. I saw tubs of 2-3" pencil-sized muskie fingerlings where more than a few had the tails of their similar-sized siblings still sticking out of their mouths. The biologist said they try to get them off pelleted feed and start feeding them other fry early to try to minimize the cannibalism. Said it was more expensive, but really helped reduce the losses. It's in their genes. |
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Posts: 234
Location: Rochester, New York |
Solitario Lupo - 3/19/2026 11:40 AM
They are the same. I stopped at my fish hatchery and they said the bigger ones eat the smaller ones so they gotta get them out to keep them about the same size. They eat what they can.
Chemi - 3/19/2026 2:59 PM
It starts early! I went to the Michigan hatchery at Wolf Lake once, and got a tour of the muskie area. I saw tubs of 2-3" pencil-sized muskie fingerlings where more than a few had the tails of their similar-sized siblings still sticking out of their mouths. The biologist said they try to get them off pelleted feed and start feeding them other fry early to try to minimize the cannibalism. Said it was more expensive, but really helped reduce the losses. It's in their genes.
I don't doubt it when they are babies but for all the videos online that have larger adult 30+" pike attack a smaller pike or died trying to eat one I have only seen one instance
of a fully grown muskie that choked to death on another one.
In terms of genetics I also came across this study they did with tiger muskies and they found a significantly higher cannibalism rate if they used a male northern pike and a female muskie over a male muskie and female pike which to me implied something in the genetics of a northern pike most frequently shared from the male parent
http://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023NAJA...85..372S/abstract
In the study they found If they used a male pike they found the cannibalism rate to be at 27% and If they used a male muskie they found the cannibalism at 5.6%
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Posts: 310
Location: Not where I want to be! | Maybe cause there are generaly way more pike in our lakes than muskies? Pike also are more agressive than muskies. Think about how many pike follow your bait to the boat. Not many! |
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Posts: 310
Location: Not where I want to be! | Maybe cause there are generally way more pike in our lakes than muskies? Pike also are more agressive than muskies. Think about how many pike follow your bait to the boat. Not many!
Edited by wavridr 3/22/2026 4:24 PM
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Posts: 234
Location: Rochester, New York | wavridr - 3/22/2026 5:23 PM
Maybe cause there are generally way more pike in our lakes than muskies? Pike also are more agressive than muskies. Think about how many pike follow your bait to the boat. Not many!
Actually a lot for me of pike do though that being said theres really only one place I get to fish that actually has Muskies |
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| It's always been my understanding, that all esocidae readily eat all other esocidae. |
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Posts: 234
Location: Rochester, New York | TCESOX - 3/22/2026 8:58 PM
It's always been my understanding, that all esocidae readily eat all other esocidae.
That was my understanding but seems like pike do it more frequently
Muskies have no problem eating pike and vise versa and pike eat other all the time but besides the young babies it still seems odd theres almost never see an adult muskie attacking and eating a smaller muskie or only one instance i could find of a muskie that choked to death on another muskie
That tiger muskie study also has me thinking theres something genetic about the pike that makes them a lot more cannibalistic |
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Location: PA Angler | There may not be stories about them on the internet but when I’m out fishing and sometimes run into other Muskie fishermen they have told stories of them having a smaller Muskie on and a bigger one wanted it. I’m guessing it depends on the numbers of the waterways and where they hang out. I’ll see a lot of bigger Muskie chase the smaller when I fish below the dams. |
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