134 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 



makes either one of these three ruffians look like a 

 bad actor when you bring him up to the boat. On 

 both the pike and pickerel the head is slightly more 

 flattened and the lower jaw seems to project farther 

 forward than on the musky. The body or basic 

 color of the back and sides is a green and greenish- 

 yellow, which varies considerably in the different fish. 

 Local conditions and waters are the cause of this 

 variation in color. In some waters the fish will be 

 found with both back and sides of a dark green, in 

 others a medium tint, while again they will be caught 

 with a very light green on the back, shading into 

 greenish yellow on the sides. The belly varies from 

 white to a cream color. In some lakes the basic 

 color has a brown-green tint. From this point the 

 similarity in color of the three fish ceases. On the 

 musky are found markings of black or brown, either 

 in the shape of round spots or irregular vertical 

 daubs. In some waters the musky is colored a dark 

 gray, blending into a grayish silver. In the Eagle 

 River waters and several of the smaller lakes in 

 northern Wisconsin and Minnesota an unspotted 

 musky is found. This musky is often called the 

 Great Northern pike. Its tail is more slender and 

 the fins are slightly higher than on the other. 



PICKEREL REALLY SMALL FELLOW 



The true pickerel seldom exceeds five or six 

 pounds in weight, although pike weighing 10 to 30 



