Anglers Can Hook A Tiger In CT

From 2022, angler Joe Rivas holds a 41-inch tiger muskie he caught on Lake Lillinonah. Photo/CT Fish & Wildlife.

Connecticut anglers have a rare opportunity to catch a fish known for growing fast and large this summer.

I small tiger muskie. Photo/CT Fish & Wildlife.

Crews with Connecticut Fish and Wildlife stocked young tiger muskies in West Thompson Lake in central Connecticut and Lake Lillinonah in western Connecticut in 2025.

The tiger muskies were roughly eight to 11 inches and were surplus production offered free of charge by the Charles O. Hayford State Fish Hatchery in Hackettstown, New Jersey.

Tiger muskies are a sterile cross between a male Northern Pike and a female Muskellunge. Officials said that because the tiger muskies cannot reproduce, they will not establish a self-sustaining population.

Tiger muskies being released. Photo/CT Fish & Wildlife.

Additionally, because tiger muskie do not put energy into mating, they are able to grow much faster and reach larger sizes than the Northern Pike found in Connecticut.

Officials said they expect the muskies to reach catchable size (14-20 inches) this upcoming summer with legal harvest size in West Thompson Lake being 26 inches.

Tiger muskies have also been stocked in Lake Lillinonah in recent years by the Lake Lillinonah Authority, and those fish have reached adult sizes. The harvest regulation for Lake Lillinonah is one fish per day (pike or tiger muskie not both) with a minimum size of 38 inches.

In 2022, an angler caught a massive tiger muskie in Lake Lillinonah that was 41 inches long and weighed 26 pounds.

Fisheries officials will reportedly monitor Lake Lillinonah and West Thompson Lake to track any potential impacts to the resident fish communities and guide future management actions.

Fish and Wildlife officials ask any angler who catches one of these fish to send them a picture at deep.inland.fisheries@ct.gov