A few weeks ago while fishing on Loon we caught a northern that was colored almost white. It had the same striping but the color did not match other northern. I have caught many many northern's in the BWCAW but have never caught one with this coloring. Any thoughts???

Could have been a mutant - a silver pike.

Albino?

Could have been a silver pike as suggested, or by your description, striped, possibly a musky???

Do you have a picture of it?

Yes I think I have pic's. Not developed yet though. When I get them I will look to see if I took a pic of it.

I do not think that it was a musky.

I have not heard of silver pike. Are they native or were they introduced to the bwca???

Interesting!!!

Silver pike are a mutation - not a subspecies.

The DNR used to list the "silver pike" in their state records. I believe the state record was caught in Disappointment IIRC. Do they still have the category?

Could have been a Silver Phase pike but the two that I have caught did not have "pike" markings on them. I'll see if I can attach a pic of one I caught a couple years back.



MagicStik

Here is a bigger pic of the fish where you can see the colors and lack of markings a bit better.




MagicStik

The DNR website does not list muskie for Loon but all the water up there is connected. One could have found it's way there from another lake.

I think East Pike is the only BWCA lake with Muskies. They were stocked there years ago.

MagicStik,
Cool pictures. It looks like a walleye mated with a northern.

BigLake,
i was gonna say the same thing

I never knew about silver northerns but it probably explains the one I had on in Eddy lake in 2000. It was a real big one that fought like hell. I had it up to the boat several times but couldn't get him in before he broke the 8Lb test line.

It was like the one in the photos and had an almost light purple cast to it. It was the hardest fighting weirdest looking pike I ever saw. It came completely out of the water 2 times and must have gone over 40 inches. All I wanted was his picture...

The Minnesota state record Silver Phase northern pike is 18 lbs, 14 oz, from Disappointment Lake. A 40+ inch fish might have been in the ballpark.

BigLake....what are the odds???? Both "Silver Pike" I have seen have come out of Big Lake near Cloquet, MN. :)

MagicStik

Looks like a normal Northern Pike to me. The particular food and water in the area can make fish look very different. The genetics from fish to fish can also make a huge difference, just like it does for people.

Here is the normal coloring and pattern of a pike. You can see the silver pike does not have the darker colors and has no pattern at all.



MagicStik

It sounds like the silver pike won't have striping at all. Maybe it was a cross between a silver pike and a normal pike? I guess I don't know if the coloration would mix or if it would just be one or the other.

I've never heard of an albino pike, but I guess anythings possible.

An interesting article on silver pike. (If you like that sort of thing).

"BigLake....what are the odds???? Both "Silver Pike" I have seen have come out of Big Lake near Cloquet, MN. :)"

That is interesting MagicStik. The Big Lake for my name is the one I own property on up the Echo Trail. It would have been too much if it was the one by Cloquet.

Thanks for the article Snakecharmer. :)

the MN conservation mag. just put out an article in thier lateest issue about some "secret"lake up there that have blue pike.
blue pike

I caught 2 very unusual pike on my first trip through the BWCA in 1992. They were small (12-15"), and were silvery-blue with a distinct irridesence. They were shaped just like any Northern or Muskie I have caught.

I am used to seeing lake-to-lake color differences in both pike and bass (small and large mouth) so I thought at the time it was some kind of cross breed that I hadn't seen, never having been in the pristine wilderness before then.

We caught them on the move in a small, unlikely lake in the vicinity of Snowbank, so I don't even know if we shot pictures. I'll look in the old albums to see...

Possible new Silver Phase "record" caught on Snowbank....

Duluth News Tribune Article

MagicStik

quote BigLake: "MagicStik,

Cool pictures. It looks like a walleye mated with a northern."

Totally agree; you stole my take!!

Wikipedia has some info on Silver Pike too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pike

Interesting points; Silver pike, sometimes called silver muskellunge, lack the rows of spots and appear silver, white, or silvery-blue in color. When ill Silver pike have been known to display a somewhat purplish hue, long illness is also the most common cause of male sterility. They have been known to attack swimmers in fresh water.

Could have been a blue pike, I will have to see the picture, also could be silver phase pike.

Can anyone say why some pike have yellowish tinted meat ? The few I have caught were on Lake Three.

drrick: "Can anyone say why some pike have yellowish tinted meat ? The few I have caught were on Lake Three."

i have done a few Ontario fly-ins in the late 80's and caught pike that had a orangish tint to the meat , in coffee stained type water , thinking more a diet thing ?

I caught a few silver or blue like on Snowbank Lake a long time ago. Can’t remember exactly, bit it seems they were bluish tinted. Definitely are different that your standard pike.