Ontario Lake Depths

Game fish · pike family

Muskellunge

Esox masquinongy · also called muskie, musky, lunge, maskinonge, maskinongé

Native to OntarioRecorded in 115 Ontario lakes
Illustration of a muskellunge in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Typical adult
71–122 cm (28–48 in)
Found in
Clear, weedy medium to large lakes and slow rivers
Spawns
April–May on vegetation, at 9–16 °C (48–61 °F)
Eats
A large predator that hunts from cover
Favours
Water of about 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)

Where muskellunge have been recorded

115 of the 1,347 Ontario lakes on this site with angler catch reports list muskellunge, across 23 counties and districts. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Abitibi, Cochrane DistrictLake Nipissing, Nipissing DistrictLake Simcoe, York RegionEagle Lake, Kenora DistrictNight Hawk Lake, Cochrane DistrictWabigoon Lake, Kenora DistrictManitou Lake, Manitoulin DistrictRice Lake, Peterborough CountySturgeon Lake, Kawartha LakesBig Vermilion Lake, Kenora DistrictPigeon Lake, Peterborough CountyLake Scugog, Durham RegionBalsam Lake, Kawartha LakesRowan Lake, Kenora DistrictDinorwic Lake, Kenora DistrictBark Lake, Renfrew CountyGolden Lake, Renfrew CountyBig Gull Lake, Frontenac CountySilver Lake, Kenora DistrictLauzon Lake, Algoma DistrictLittle Vermilion Lake, Kenora DistrictBaptiste Lake, Hastings CountyIndian Lake, Sudbury DistrictBig Canon Lake, Kenora DistrictTrout Lake, Nipissing DistrictNosebonsing lake, Nipissing DistrictCentennial Lake, Renfrew CountyJack Lake, Peterborough CountyDalrymple Lake, Kawartha LakesRestoule Lake, Parry Sound DistrictKashwakamak Lake, Frontenac CountyNepewassi Lake, Sudbury DistrictLower Buckhorn Lake, Peterborough CountyKatimiagamak Lake, Kenora DistrictMuskrat Lake, Renfrew CountyEcho Lake, Algoma DistrictChemong Lake, Peterborough CountyGull Lake, Haliburton CountySparrow Lake, Simcoe CountyThunder Lake, Kenora DistrictMalachi Lake, Kenora DistrictKasshabog Lake, Peterborough CountyCrowe Lake, Hastings CountyLake of the Mountains, Algoma DistrictCameron Lake, Kawartha LakesKahshe Lake, MuskokaHead Lake, Kawartha LakesCanal Lake, Kawartha LakesTrout Lake, Sudbury DistrictMoira Lake, Hastings CountyKashagawigamog Lake, Haliburton CountyBelmont Lake, Peterborough CountyFour Mile Lake, Kawartha LakesPaudash Lake, Haliburton CountyBuckhorn Lake, Peterborough CountyBoshkung Lake, Haliburton CountyLake St. John, Simcoe CountyRound Lake, Peterborough CountyOtter Lake, Leeds and GrenvilleEdward Lake, Kenora DistrictBlackstone Lake, Parry Sound DistrictCrane Lake, Parry Sound DistrictWashagami Lake, Sudbury DistrictStormy Lake, Parry Sound DistrictShadow Lake, Kawartha LakesSoyers Lake, Haliburton CountyMaple Lake, Haliburton CountyMuskosung Lake, Nipissing DistrictMorrison Lake, MuskokaMitchell Lake, Kawartha LakesHorseshoe Lake, Haliburton CountyPigeon River, Kawartha LakesTurtle Lake, Nipissing DistrictClear Lake, Parry Sound DistrictCordova Lake, Peterborough CountyLovesick Lake, Peterborough CountyCanning Lake, Haliburton CountyFanshawe Lake, LondonLittle Lake, BarrieBig Bald Lake, Peterborough CountyOliver Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictCedarbough Lake, Kenora DistrictJoeperry Lake, Lennox and Addington CountyDummer Lake, Peterborough CountyWhite Lake, Peterborough CountyLower Stewart Lake, Kenora DistrictPine Lake, Nipissing DistrictChateau Lake, Renfrew CountyGreen Lake, Haliburton CountyBass Lake, Peterborough CountyPine Lake, Haliburton CountyTea Lake, Simcoe CountyFaraday Lake, Hastings CountyDiamond Lake, Renfrew CountyCranberry Lake, Haliburton CountyGrandview Lake, MuskokaHead Lake, Haliburton CountyGreens Lake, Peterborough CountyBaxter Lake, MuskokaHeyden Lake, Algoma DistrictDuck Lake, Kawartha LakesSill Lake, Algoma DistrictSummit Lake, Frontenac CountyRainbow Lake, Nipissing DistrictLoon Lake, Algoma DistrictBarnum Lake, Haliburton CountyMinden Lake, Haliburton CountyFirst James Lake, Renfrew CountyBeaver Lake, Algoma DistrictGrenadier Pond, TorontoCedar Lake, Haliburton CountyBeaver Lake, Parry Sound DistrictFillion L., Algoma DistrictLittle Clear Lake, Peterborough CountyWhitefish River, Sudbury District

Recorded here Other lakes with catch reports

How we know

  • 115lakes where an angler logged one in Fish ON-Line; on 60 of them a single trip, one angler’s report

Self-reported by anglers, not a Ministry survey. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: a lake appears here only once an angler has logged this fish there.

Inland lakes on this list run from 13 to 234,979 acres (median 1,419) and from 6 to 280 ft deep (median 60 ft).

When and how anglers catch muskellunge

From 214 trip reports naming muskellunge on the lakes above, logged by anglers in Ontario’s Fish ON-Line app. These are self-reported trips, not a Ministry survey: they show when and how people fish for them, not how many fish a lake holds.

Trips by month

The busiest month is July (28% of trips); 13% were logged December–February (lighter bars).

How they were fishing

From a boat78%
From shore10%
Through the ice13%

Share of the 214 trips that recorded boat, shore or ice.

Fish reported

387 muskellunge reported on these trips. Anglers kept 14% of the ones they reported and released the rest. The app records no sizes.

Lakes on this site with the most trips

  1. Lower Buckhorn Lake, Peterborough 10
  2. Chemong Lake, Peterborough 5
  3. Lower Stewart Lake, Kenora District 5
  4. Pigeon Lake, Peterborough 5
  5. Sturgeon Lake, Kawartha Lakes 5
  6. Cameron Lake, Kawartha Lakes 4
  7. Dalrymple Lake, Kawartha Lakes 4
  8. Eagle Lake, Kenora District 4
  9. Lake Scugog, Durham Region 4
  10. Lake Simcoe, York Region 4

Trips that logged this fish on each lake. A busy lake gets more trips; this is not a ranking of fishing quality. 60 of the 115 lakes are listed on a single trip, one angler’s report.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

Ontario's second-largest fish: dark vertical bars or spots on a light green-gold, brown, grey or silver background, sometimes plain. It has six to nine sensory pores on each side of the lower jaw (12–18 in all), no scales on the lower half of the cheek and gill cover, and pointed tail-fin tips.

Don’t confuse it with

Northern pike — Pike have pale spots on a dark body, five pores on each side of the jaw (10 in all), a fully scaled cheek and rounder tail tips.
Tiger muskellunge — A natural hybrid of male pike and female muskie, found in central, eastern and northwestern Ontario; it is rare.

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 an Ontario lake

Muskellunge are native to Ontario from the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes basin north to Lake Nipissing and west to Lake of the Woods. They lurk among aquatic plants along channel edges and around rocks and offshore shoals, and they can tolerate water as warm as 32 °C (90 °F).

They spawn in spring, a little later and at warmer temperatures than pike, scattering eggs over vegetation with no parental care. They mature late and live long: males mature at 3–6 years, females at 4–8, and fish can live 15–30 years.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Before fishing, check the current Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary for your Fisheries Management Zone, any exceptions for the waterbody, and your licence type. Angler catch reports show what people logged, not what is legal to catch or keep. Fish ON-Line itself (how to use it) maps the zones and exceptions. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish.

All 115 lakes with muskellunge

Show every lake, by county

Algoma District 8

Beaver Lake, Echo Lake, Fillion L., Heyden Lake, Lake of the Mountains, Lauzon Lake, Loon Lake, Sill Lake

Barrie 1

Little Lake

Cochrane District 2

Lake Abitibi, Night Hawk Lake

Durham Region 1

Lake Scugog

Frontenac County 3

Big Gull Lake, Kashwakamak Lake, Summit Lake

Haliburton County 15

Barnum Lake, Boshkung Lake, Canning Lake, Cedar Lake, Cranberry Lake, Green Lake, Gull Lake, Head Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Kashagawigamog Lake, Maple Lake, Minden Lake, Paudash Lake, Pine Lake, Soyers Lake

Hastings County 4

Baptiste Lake, Crowe Lake, Faraday Lake, Moira Lake

Kawartha Lakes 11

Balsam Lake, Cameron Lake, Canal Lake, Dalrymple Lake, Duck Lake, Four Mile Lake, Head Lake, Mitchell Lake, Pigeon River, Shadow Lake, Sturgeon Lake

Kenora District 14

Big Canon Lake, Big Vermilion Lake, Cedarbough Lake, Dinorwic Lake, Eagle Lake, Edward Lake, Katimiagamak Lake, Little Vermilion Lake, Lower Stewart Lake, Malachi Lake, Rowan Lake, Silver Lake, Thunder Lake, Wabigoon Lake

Leeds and Grenville 1

Otter Lake

Lennox and Addington County 1

Joeperry Lake

London 1

Fanshawe Lake

Manitoulin District 1

Manitou Lake

Muskoka 4

Baxter Lake, Grandview Lake, Kahshe Lake, Morrison Lake

Nipissing District 7

Lake Nipissing, Muskosung Lake, Nosebonsing lake, Pine Lake, Rainbow Lake, Trout Lake, Turtle Lake

Parry Sound District 6

Beaver Lake, Blackstone Lake, Clear Lake, Crane Lake, Restoule Lake, Stormy Lake

Peterborough County 17

Bass Lake, Belmont Lake, Big Bald Lake, Buckhorn Lake, Chemong Lake, Cordova Lake, Dummer Lake, Greens Lake, Jack Lake, Kasshabog Lake, Little Clear Lake, Lovesick Lake, Lower Buckhorn Lake, Pigeon Lake, Rice Lake, Round Lake, White Lake

Renfrew County 7

Bark Lake, Centennial Lake, Chateau Lake, Diamond Lake, First James Lake, Golden Lake, Muskrat Lake

Simcoe County 3

Lake St. John, Sparrow Lake, Tea Lake

Sudbury District 5

Indian Lake, Nepewassi Lake, Trout Lake, Washagami Lake, Whitefish River

Thunder Bay District 1

Oliver Lake

Toronto 1

Grenadier Pond

York Region 1

Lake Simcoe

Sources

← All fish of Ontario