Muskie/Gar Fry in Southeastern, Pa

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Picmac

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 8, 2008
41
0
6
Pennsylvania
Hey everyone.

I was fishing in the John Heinz wildlife refuge outside south philly last week, and I noticed these 2 skinny fry swim right by my feet. They caught my eye because they were much longer than the other small minnows swimming around them. They were pretty easy to catch because they stayed at the surface. I tried to take pics for you guys to identify, but my camera phone wouldn't pick up the image they were so small. I mean these little guys were no longer than an inch and very skinny. Long story short they are now in my mom’s pond. The reason for this post is I want to know if anybody has small small pics of muskie or even gar I could compare. If what I caught is a muskie or even a gar that would be incredible because I haven’t heard of either being in my area in a long time. I plan on going back to my moms to check on them and get some pics with a better camera.



Thanks

Mike
 
Gar at that size have a dark lateral stripe and the spine continues through the upper lobe of the tail to form a filament, usually yellow colored. There's no mistaking them. You can still see the filament on this guy: http://images.google.com/imgres?img...=larval+gar&gbv=2&ndsp=20&hl=en&sa=N&start=20.

Inch-long esocids (such as musky) look pretty much like the adults. The various species of Esox can be difficult to distinguish when small. There are two species of pickerel native to your area- redfin and chain. Your fish is much more likely to be one of those than a musky.
 
Noto's right. If they are gar then you will know it as soon as you see the pics. It sounds like gar more than pickerel. Gar come to the surface to breathe and if you don't make sudden movements then they are also easy to catch. Pickerel like to lurk more in plant life and are much harder to find in the open.

Video of baby gar 2 to 4 inch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dippo1-5KTU
 
Out of pickerel, musky and gar I think they are closer to a gar. I will def have pic updates this week for you guys and see what ya think.

Thanks for the post so far
 
this sounds like a baby gar because this is how i usually find the baby gar i used to raise. but we will need pics to id it
 
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