\n
<\/p>\n
Muskies are known to wolf down big meals. They\u2019ll eat snakes and ducks and even muskrats<\/a>, not to mention all the fish species they\u2019re known to target. But a 4-foot muskie eating another 4-foot muskie? According to a recent Instagram video<\/a>, it can happen.<\/p>\n The short video clip shows two dead muskies floating on the surface, with one of the fish lodged in the other fish\u2019s gullet. It was shared Wednesday by greatlakes_finesse<\/a>, a lure manufacturer that specializes in soft plastics and other finesse baits for smallmouth bass.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen weird things before, and I spend a lot of time on the water, but nothing like this,\u201d says Great Lakes Finesse brand manager Dan Miguel, who recorded the video on May 9 and can be heard talking in the background. <\/p>\n Miguel tells Outdoor Life <\/em>that he and a buddy were wrapping up their day chasing smallies on Lake Ontario when they came across the muskies. He noticed a bird standing on something floating in the water, so they pulled over to investigate. The two fish were already belly up by that point.<\/p>\n A tournament bass fisherman, Miguel doesn\u2019t usually target \u201cthe fish of 10,000 casts.\u201d<\/a> He says he\u2019s caught plenty of pike in that area, but these were the first muskies he\u2019d personally seen on the lake. They weren\u2019t small fish, either.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, those were legitimately big muskies,\u201d Miguel says. \u201cThe biggest muskie I\u2019ve ever caught was 49 inches, and the biggest fish \u2014 the one that was eating the other \u2014 was for sure bigger than that. I\u2019d say in the 52-inch range. And the other one was close.\u201d<\/p>\n He explains that his first instinct was to try and pull the two fish apart, but it didn\u2019t take long to realize they were goners.<\/p>\n Read Next:<\/strong> Watch an Angler Pull a 22-inch Snake Out of a 16-inch Bass<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as I touched the fish, I could tell the big one had been dead for awhile,\u201d Miguel says. \u201cThe bottom one\u2019s gills were also pinned shut, and its fins didn\u2019t even budge when I touched it. No signs of life at all.\u201d <\/p>\n He can only speculate as to how the muskies ended up like that, but Miguel doubts that one of the fish realistically thought it could eat and swallow the other. He thinks it\u2019s more likely that the two fish were fighting each other. Muskies are extremely territorial<\/a>, after all, and they\u2019ll often attack an intruder that swims onto their turf \u2014 even if the fish is as big or bigger than they are. <\/p>\n Great Lakes muskies also spawn in the spring, typically between mid-April and mid-May, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources<\/a>. Like most other fish species, muskies will act even more aggressively during this period as they seek out mates and defend their spawning grounds.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n