Tigers are extremely rapid growers, growing more quickly than either parent during the first two years of life. Since tiger muskies are sterile hybrids, no successful spawning takes place. Tiger muskellunge are more easily raised in hatcheries than either parent. They readily feed on commercial fish food pellets and can be reared efficiently in great numbers. While the hybrid cross works either way, New York State hatcheries have traditionally used female muskellunge and male northerns for the stocking program.
Tiger muskellunge are important game fish actively sought by many anglers.
Typically less difficult to catch than musky but more difficult than northerns, they add a unique quality to warmwater fishing. Pike and People Historically, many of New York State's wetland areas were drained or filled to provide locations for residential and industrial development. Since wetlands provide essential spawning grounds for pike, draining and filling have reduced pike populations in certain areas. The story of Oneida Lake is a good example of how the once-random removal of New York State's wetlands hurt pike's populations. In the early 1900s, Oneida Lake had great northern pike and pickerel fishing.