When and where do muskie spawn?
In spring at 9–15 °C (48–59 °F), a deliberate two to four weeks after pike have used the same water. Fish move into shallow, dark-bottomed bays, flooded marsh edges, and river backwaters, usually in less than 1.5 m (5 ft) of water over dead vegetation and woody detritus, and scatter adhesive eggs across the bottom in paired runs — no nest, no redd. Timing slides with latitude: March in the southern reservoirs, late April to mid-May across Wisconsin and Minnesota, into early June on northern Ontario shield lakes. The same bays are reused year after year, which is why protecting a few hectares of spawning marsh can carry a whole lake's population.
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This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Spawning
Same topic, other species
- What temperature do crappie spawn at — and is it one event? — Crappie
- At what water temperature do largemouth spawn? — Largemouth Bass
- When and where do perch spawn? — Yellow Perch
- Why do pike spawn in flooded marshes at ice-out? — Northern Pike
- Do smallmouth and largemouth hybridize in the wild? — Smallmouth Bass
- What is a redd, and why must I never wade through one? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- When and where do walleye spawn? — Walleye