Muskie in Gunpowder?

[TRC]

Found a dead 20" Muskie floating in front of the Joppa Town boat ramp this morning. Been on the GP for 50 years and never saw one. Thinking it came down from Loch Raven. The water temp was 89.9 in the canal at 5am! Wadda ya think?

[27 sailfish]

Any chance you got a photo ?

Heard of Chain Pickerel in Gunpowder area - they look similar to a Muskie or the hybrid Tiger Muskie.

Pickerel get to about 28 inches and 20 inchers are common. When hooked in warm water - often they do not survive catch / release if fought for a long time or hook removal takes long.

[J bones]

My vote is a pickerel. If it was dead a while, might have lost the tell tale coloration.

[johnnylaw]

pickerel x3

[TRC]

Not a pickerel and didn't get a picture but markings were still clear enough to ID as a Muskie.

[troutfishin]

I love how two people say it must be a pickerel without having seen the fish. Not calling anyone out... just sayin. Reminds me of the shark threads. "Can't be a shark. Even though I wasn't there, I'll bet it was a ray".
Bull sharks are in the bay. Manatee's are in the bay. I've heard of Mahi Mahi being caught in nets in the southern part of the bay. Why can't a Musky be in a river in the northern end of the Chesapeake?

[Fish Fish'n]

I have been fishing Loch Raven 40 years and there are no Muskie in the reservoir. Possibly it came down from the Susky.

[h2oboss]

Ya, I've nver heard of musky in LR either and I used to fish it alot. There are however, some very large northern pike in LR....got a 39" up there in feb. about 8years ago, and I've seen bigger. No musky though that I am aware of in the GP or LR, but stranger things have happened....snakeheads have already made it to the Rhodes River

[TDLewis]

I hooked a Muskie directly below the dam below Prettyboy reservoir (I was trout fishing). It was unmistakably a muskie - est'd at about 30". I fought it for a bit and then it broke off.

Trev

[h2oboss]

Ya, PB has them, as do many of the WSSC reserviors near Laurel and Mont county, never in LR though in my epxerience.