Tiger musky or spotted phase?

[Ponz mn]

I landed this fish a few years ago up at Lake of the Woods, and still am confused about exactly what it was. Size wise it was 41 inches long and was my first fish of that size and we had a replica made of her by a friend of ours. The locals said she looked like a tiger, but by what i've seen the markings don't match that of one. Any help would be appreciated.



and the replica...



(Her gill was that way before we caught her, she hit on a follow and we saw it waving behind her.)

[Ponz mn]

anyone?

[ice 45]

i would say spotted from this chart but you can decide
http://www.headwatersmuskies.com/muskyid.shtml

[corny13]

Sure looks like a spotted Leech Lake strain Muskellunge to me.  As they get older they will loose most of those spots.  But not always.  Here is a photo of a 47" I caught this summer still with spots.

[esox_magnum]

Thats a pure muskie, sometimes they have spots sometimes stripes sometimes both, heres a few examples all caught off the same lake.



 50" Spotted 



 41" Regular Muskie



 42" Tiger

[hardh2ofish]

I would say thats a Musky and not a tiger.  Very unique glad uniqued up on im and put im where he belonged

[pikeking]

I would say that's a Muskie,,,Tigers are a hybrid and have stripes. Just my opinion.

[FishinAddiction]

Thats a pure muskie, sometimes they have spots sometimes stripes sometimes both, heres a few examples all caught off the same lake.



 50" Spotted 

(Image removed from quote.)

 41" Regular Muskie

(Image removed from quote.)

 42" Tiger

(Image removed from quote.)

I agree. Awesome fish. 

[northernnyice]

what you have there my friend is a nice spotted ski

[ICE DOG 69]

Here is a spotted strain Musky I caught a few weeks ago, use it for reference.