Minnesota Lake Depths

Game fish · pike family

Muskellunge

Esox masquinongy · also called muskie

Native to MinnesotaRecorded in 94 Minnesota lakes
Illustration of a muskellunge in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Size limit
Statewide minimum 54 in (40 in on Twin Cities lakes stocked with tiger muskellunge)
Lakes
About 102, including 48 where the DNR introduced them by stocking
Spawns
Early spring, after northern pike
Growth
Young of the year reach about a foot by late fall
Minnesota record
55 lb 14 oz, 57¾ in — Mille Lacs Lake, Mille Lacs County, 2021

Where muskellunge have been recorded

94 of the 1,788 Minnesota lakes on this site with fish records list muskellunge, across 27 counties. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Mille Lacs Lake, Mille Lacs CountyLeech Lake (Main Basin), Cass CountyLake Winnibigoshish, Cass CountyEast Vermilion Lake, St. Louis CountyCass Lake, Beltrami CountyLake Minnetonka, Hennepin CountyWest Vermilion Lake, St. Louis CountyGull Lake, Cass CountyLake Bemidji (main lake), Beltrami CountyIsland Lake Reservoir (W.Basin), St. Louis CountyLake Miltona, Douglas CountyPokegama Lake (Main Bay), Itasca CountyWest Battle Lake, Otter Tail CountyPike Bay, Cass CountyLake Ida, Douglas CountyDeer Lake, Itasca CountyPelican Lake, Otter Tail CountyBig Lake, Beltrami CountyBoy Lake, Cass CountyLake Waconia, Carver CountyDetroit Lake, Becker CountyCrane Lake, St. Louis CountyLake Alexander, Morrison CountyLake Plantagenet, Hubbard CountyWhite Bear Lake, Washington CountyForest Lake, Washington CountyKitchi Lake, Beltrami CountyMany Point Lake, Becker CountyIsland Lake Reservoir (E.Basin), St. Louis CountyAndrusia Lake, Beltrami CountyWest Rush Lake, Chisago CountyCedar Lake (Main Basin), Aitkin CountyRoosevelt Lake, Cass CountyEast Rush Lake, Chisago CountyLittle Boy Lake, Cass CountyShamineau Lake, Morrison CountySpider Lake, Itasca CountyMoose Lake, Itasca CountyPokegama Lake (Wendigo), Itasca CountyRound Lake, Becker CountyWolf Lake, Beltrami CountyBald Eagle Lake, Ramsey CountySugar Lake, Wright CountyBorden Lake, Crow Wing CountyLeech Lake (Kabekona Bay), Cass CountyFox Lake, Martin CountyCross Lake, Pine CountyFrench Lake, Rice CountyNorth Star Lake, Itasca CountyLake Independence, Hennepin CountyCrescent Lake, Cook CountyBaby Lake, Cass CountyZumbro Lake, Olmsted CountyLobster Lake (East Bay), Douglas CountyMantrap Lake (East Basin), Hubbard CountyMantrap Lake (Middle Basin), Hubbard CountyLake Irving, Beltrami CountyHorseshoe Lake, Stearns CountyLobster Lake (West Bay), Douglas CountyHall Lake, Martin CountyIsland Lake, Pine CountyBlueberry Lake, Wadena CountyLittle Wolf Lake, Cass CountyBlandin Lake, Itasca CountyMan Lake, Cass CountyStraight Lake, Becker CountyCedar Island Lake (Main Bay), Stearns CountyBde Maka Ska, Hennepin CountyLake Mina, Douglas CountyDumbbell Lake, Lake CountyLake Owasso, Ramsey CountyLake Harriet, Hennepin CountyElk Lake, Clearwater CountyEagle Lake, Hennepin CountyCedar Island Lake (East Lake), Stearns CountyLake Rebecca, Hennepin CountyBudd Lake, Martin CountyComfort Lake, Chisago CountyLake Louise, Douglas CountyCedar Lake (West Bay), Aitkin CountyMantrap Lake (West Arm), Hubbard CountyAmber Lake, Martin CountyCedar Lake, Hennepin CountySisseton Lake, Martin CountyCedar Island Lake (Koetter Lake), Stearns CountyRound Lake, Morrison CountyLeavitt Lake, Cass CountyGeorge Lake, Martin CountyMantrap Lake (Home Bay), Hubbard CountyCedar Island Lake (Mud Lake), Stearns CountyTanager Lake, Hennepin CountyCedar Lake (N.E. Arm), Aitkin CountyHighland Park Pond, Hennepin CountyMantrap Lake (Mirror Bay), Hubbard County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 70lakes where a DNR fisheries survey caught them
  • 68lakes the DNR has stocked since 2016; 24 of them are listed on that stocking alone

A lake can appear in more than one line. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: records exist only where someone caught, netted or stocked them.

Inland lakes on this list run from 7 to 128,184 acres (median 901) and from 4 to 135 ft deep (median 50 ft).

How many turn up in DNR surveys

Minnesota DNR lake surveys use standard gear: gill nets set offshore for 24 hours (the main gear for walleye, northern pike, yellow perch, cisco, whitefish and trout), trap nets set near shore (the main gear for bluegill, crappie and bullheads), and on some lakes electrofishing, most often for bass. The DNR reports each gear separately, as fish per net set. These rates come from the newest standard survey of each lake on this site, 1959–2025 — a measure of how many fish a lake holds, not how many an angler will catch.

Found in
40 of 1579 lakes surveyed this way
Typical rate
0.11 per gill net where found
Highest
0.88 per gill net
Method
fish per gill net set

“Typical” is the median across the lakes where the survey caught at least one. Each gear catches different fish, so the rates are not added together. In trap nets it turned up in 18 lakes at a typical 0.11 per trap net set. By electrofishing it turned up in 5 lakes at a typical 0.56 per hour of electrofishing. A single survey is a snapshot of one season.

Highest survey rates on this site

  1. Dumbbell Lake, Lake County 2023 0.88
  2. Elk Lake, Clearwater 2025 0.67
  3. Little Wolf Lake, Cass 2024 0.56
  4. Andrusia Lake, Beltrami 2019 0.25
  5. Cedar Island Lake (Main Bay), Stearns 2018 0.25
  6. Crescent Lake, Cook 2024 0.25
  7. French Lake, Rice 2023 0.25
  8. Lake Owasso, Ramsey 2021 0.25
  9. Moose Lake, Itasca 2023 0.25
  10. Lake Independence, Hennepin 2025 0.22

Fish per gill net set, with survey year. Survey effort and season differ between lakes.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

A long pike-shaped fish, silver, light green or light brown with dark bars or spots on a light background (the reverse of a northern pike). The sure test: six or more sensory pores on each side of the underside of the lower jaw.

Don’t confuse it with

Northern pike — Light, bar-like spots on a dark body and five or fewer pores on each side of the jaw.
Tiger muskellunge — A sterile pike × muskellunge hybrid with rounded tail lobes; it grows faster than a pure muskellunge but not as large.

Up close

Illustration of a muskellunge's head from the side and slightly below, showing seven and eight sensory pores along the two sides of the lower jaw, with scales on only the upper half of the cheek and gill cover.
Muskellunge: six or more pores under each side of the lower jaw (seven and eight drawn here); the cheek and gill cover are scaled only on their upper halves.
Illustration of a northern pike's head from the side and slightly below, showing five sensory pores along each side of the lower jaw, a fully scaled cheek, and scales on only the upper half of the gill cover.
Northern pike: five pores under each side of the lower jaw; the whole cheek is scaled; the gill cover is scaled only on its upper half.

AI-generated close-ups, not photographs, drawn from the cited descriptions. They show what to look for; they are not a substitute for an expert identification (provenance).

Life in a Minnesota lake

The biggest of the pike family, muskellunge are native to Minnesota's lakes and rivers and famously take many casts to hook. According to the DNR, that difficulty comes from how few live in any one lake rather than from any special cunning. They ambush prey from weed edges, rocky shoals and points that fall off into deep water.

Spawning lasts roughly a week in early spring, with eggs adhering to vegetation and the lake bottom. Diet research by the DNR showed muskellunge do not strip a lake of fish: in the lakes studied, northern pike and largemouth bass ate more than muskellunge did.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Check the rules before you keep fish. Each lake page shows the regulations that apply there, and the Minnesota DNR fishing regulations page is the official source. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Minnesota Department of Health’s fish consumption guidance.

All 94 lakes with muskellunge

Show every lake, by county

Aitkin County 3

Cedar Lake (Main Basin), Cedar Lake (N.E. Arm), Cedar Lake (West Bay)

Becker County 4

Detroit Lake, Many Point Lake, Round Lake, Straight Lake

Beltrami County 7

Andrusia Lake, Big Lake, Cass Lake, Kitchi Lake, Lake Bemidji (main lake), Lake Irving, Wolf Lake

Carver County 1

Lake Waconia

Cass County 12

Baby Lake, Boy Lake, Gull Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, Leavitt Lake, Leech Lake (Kabekona Bay), Leech Lake (Main Basin), Little Boy Lake, Little Wolf Lake, Man Lake, Pike Bay, Roosevelt Lake

Chisago County 3

Comfort Lake, East Rush Lake, West Rush Lake

Clearwater County 1

Elk Lake

Cook County 1

Crescent Lake

Crow Wing County 1

Borden Lake

Douglas County 6

Lake Ida, Lake Louise, Lake Miltona, Lake Mina, Lobster Lake (East Bay), Lobster Lake (West Bay)

Hennepin County 9

Bde Maka Ska, Cedar Lake, Eagle Lake, Highland Park Pond, Lake Harriet, Lake Independence, Lake Minnetonka, Lake Rebecca, Tanager Lake

Hubbard County 6

Lake Plantagenet, Mantrap Lake (East Basin), Mantrap Lake (Home Bay), Mantrap Lake (Middle Basin), Mantrap Lake (Mirror Bay), Mantrap Lake (West Arm)

Itasca County 7

Blandin Lake, Deer Lake, Moose Lake, North Star Lake, Pokegama Lake (Main Bay), Pokegama Lake (Wendigo), Spider Lake

Lake County 1

Dumbbell Lake

Martin County 6

Amber Lake, Budd Lake, Fox Lake, George Lake, Hall Lake, Sisseton Lake

Mille Lacs County 1

Mille Lacs Lake

Morrison County 3

Lake Alexander, Round Lake, Shamineau Lake

Olmsted County 1

Zumbro Lake

Otter Tail County 2

Pelican Lake, West Battle Lake

Pine County 2

Cross Lake, Island Lake

Ramsey County 2

Bald Eagle Lake, Lake Owasso

Rice County 1

French Lake

St. Louis County 5

Crane Lake, East Vermilion Lake, Island Lake Reservoir (E.Basin), Island Lake Reservoir (W.Basin), West Vermilion Lake

Stearns County 5

Cedar Island Lake (East Lake), Cedar Island Lake (Koetter Lake), Cedar Island Lake (Main Bay), Cedar Island Lake (Mud Lake), Horseshoe Lake

Wadena County 1

Blueberry Lake

Washington County 2

Forest Lake, White Bear Lake

Wright County 1

Sugar Lake

Sources

← All fish of Minnesota