THE EASTERN PICKEREL

THE EASTERN PICKERELTHE WESTERN PICKERELTHE PIKE-PERCHTHE YELLOW-PERCH

THE WESTERN PICKEREL

THE PIKE-PERCH

THE YELLOW-PERCH

A minnow, or a trolling-spoon of small size with a single Sproat or O'Shaughnessy hook, may be employed in casting from a boat along the edges of weed patches, lily-pads, and wild rice, and along the shoals and bars. The same tackle can be utilized for trolling in the same situations. Where the conditions are favorable it is advisable to allow the boat to drift, in order to dispense with the noise and confusion of rowing or paddling. The directions already given for black-bass fishing, as to playing and landing the fish, will answer just as well for the pike.

As the pike seems to suggest the trolling-spoon, this is a good place to say a few words concerning that little-understood article of fishing tackle. In the first place, it should never have more than asinglehook, and that should never be handicapped by adding a minnow, frog, or strip of fish or bacon-skin, as is so often done. The hook should be left free to perform its function, untrammelled by extraneous and useless appendages. If the angler pins his faith to them, by all means give them a fair chance on a hookwithout a spoon; it is not only more logical, but more sportsmanlike. Give the fish a chance, also, and of two evils let it choose the least by using them separately. Seriously, the spoon is a most alluring and attractive bait in itself. Its bright and shining appearance when spinning and glancing through the water is well-nigh irresistible to a predaceous fish, and is in itself all that could be desired as an effective lure.

The original trolling-spoon (made by Buell) was the bowl of a dessert spoon, with a hole in the broadest end for the line, and a single hook soldered to the narrow end. It is as effective as the best trolling-spoon made today. With a single hook, either loosely attached or soldered to the spoon, one is more apt to hook his fish, and more certain of landing it, to say nothing of the cruel and inhuman practice of using the triangle of three hooks usually attached to most trolling-spoons.

Manufacturers generally affix a triangle of hooks to trolling-spoons, disguised by a bunch of red and white feathers that are worse than useless. The spoon is made of many shapes and of various sizes, and often of two or three spoons combined. They seem to vie with each other asto who can turn out the most ridiculous contrivance, for the farther it departs from the original spoon the more useless it becomes. Manufacturers are not all anglers, and endeavor to produce what is most novel and attractive to the prospective customer. Such appliances sell to the uninitiated and unwary, but do not catch many fish, or even anglers of experience.

And the same remarks will apply in a measure to the gang or trace of several hooks, usually employed in trolling or spinning the minnow. A minnow, hooked through the lips—and it may be a dead one—with a single hook, will move more lifelike, and be really more attractive to the fish, than the whirling, wabbling one, bristling with a dozen hooks. It is cruel and heartless to employ so murderous a device. I have seen the mouths of bass and pike and lake-trout lacerated and mutilated, sometimes the lips and upper jaw torn completely off, by the triangle of the spoon or the half dozen or more hooks of the gang or trace. If their use cannot be dispensed with on the score of inutility, a single hook being far more successful, their employment should be relinquished in the name of humanity.

The pike will not often rise to the artificial fly,but will take it if allowed to sink a foot or two after casting. Many years ago, in Wisconsin, I devised the "polka" black-bass fly, and on its first trial, at the very first cast, it was seized by a pike of six pounds. The polka has a body of red floss silk, with spotted wings of the guinea fowl. I have frequently taken the pike with other red-bodied flies, as the Abbey, red ibis, king of the water, and Montreal, but the polka was always the favorite. Flies with bodies of peacock harl, as coachman, Henshall, Governor Alvord, etc., are very useful, as well as some with yellow bodies, as professor, queen of the water, and Lord Baltimore. The afternoon hours, especially toward sundown and until dusk, are the most promising for fly-fishing. Large flies are also successfully used in trolling for pike, from a rather slow-moving boat. For fuller instructions for fly-fishing the reader is referred to those given for the black-bass, which will answer very well for the pike, especially where the two fishes inhabit the same waters.

Fishing through the ice for pike or pickerel has quite a fascination for some persons, even for those who never fish in any other way. And there is a certain kind of enjoyment in it, thoughactual fishing, as we understand it, has but little to do with it. If the ice is glare and free of snow, one can vary the amusement with skating. The bracing, nipping air on a clear day, with the sun shining brightly on the winter landscape, has its charms, and fishing through the ice is a good pretext for a winter outing. A dozen or more holes are cut through the ice in a circle, its diameter extending over the feeding grounds of the pike, whether small or great in extent. A fire may be built in the centre, if far from the shore on a lake, or on the shore itself if convenient to the holes. The holes being cut and a fire made for comfort, the next thing to do is to place the "tip-ups," as they are called, and bait the hooks, when there is nothing more to be done but to fill one's pipe and wait by the fire for the anticipated event—the rising of a signal proclaiming a "bite."

Tip-ups are made in several ways, but the simplest plan, which is as good as any, is to provide a piece of thin board, say two or three feet long and two or three inches wide. A few inches from one end a hole is bored, through which is thrust a round stick, like a section of a broom-handle, and long enough to extend well across the hole in the ice. A short line, usuallythree or four feet long, with suitable hook and sinker, is tied to the short end of the thin board, through a small hole bored for the purpose. The hook is then baited, placed in the water, and the thin board is laid down on its edge, with the short end at the middle of the hole in the ice, and the round stick straddling it. It will be readily understood that a fish pulling on the line at the short end of the thin board, or lever, will raise the long end, thus indicating to the watcher the looked-for event. The long end of the lever may be shaved to a point, to which a signal flag may be affixed. Where the fish are plentiful it will keep one pretty busy running from one hole to another to take off the pike or rebait the hooks.

When residing at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. I found that fishing through the ice for pike and yellow-perch was a favorite sport. I indulged in it once for pike and several times for perch, for the latter is a firm, sweet, and delicious pan-fish in the winter. Driving over La Belle Lake in my sleigh to the "pickerel grounds," where my man had cut the holes the day before, the tip-ups and lines were soon arranged and the hooks baited with live minnows. A fire was then builton the shore, near at hand, to warm the chilled fingers. It was pretty tame when considered from the angler's point of view; but with the keen, crisp winter air, and the bright sun sparkling on the pure white snow, on which I occasionally took a spin in the sleigh, it was quite an enjoyable experience. In the course of a few hours several pike were taken and left lying on the snow, where they soon became frozen stiff. Upon my arrival at home they were placed in a tub of cold water, when all but one or two revived and began to swim about; the latter were probably too thoroughly frozen or may have been dead before being frozen. Apropos of this: I had some minnows in a live box, at the edge of the lake near my home, that thawed out alive in the spring after being frozen all winter. They were evidently the same minnows, as there were no dead ones, and the live ones could hardly have got into the box from the lake.

The mediocrity of the pike as a game-fish is doubtless a just estimation in a majority of cases, but once in a while one will exhibit game qualities that will surprise the most doubting and contemptuous angler, compelling his admiration, and forcing him to admit that there are exceptionsto all rules, but more especially in fishing. I was once one of a party of black-bass fishers on a lake in Wisconsin. In one of the boats was a lady of Milwaukee, who was justly considered one of the most expert and level-headed anglers in the party. She always stood up in her boat, was a marvel in casting the minnow, and played a bass to a finish in a style both graceful and artistic after a short, sharp, and decisive contest. She used the lightest rods and tackle, and the best. On this occasion, after landing a number of gamy bass and logy pike, she hooked a pike of about six pounds that put her six-ounce rod to the severest test, and gave her twenty minutes of the liveliest work that a fish is capable of. It leaped repeatedly from the water, and rushed not only straight away, but twisted and turned and doubled in a manner that would have done credit to the gamest bass. Finally she brought it to the landing-net in triumph, though she was, to use her own expression, "completely tuckered out." I venture to say that no man of the party would have been successful in landing that pike, with the same tackle, in the same length of time.

A woman who is an expert angler will risk her tackle to greater lengths than a man, and willtake more chances in subduing a fish within a reasonable time. This is not because of recklessness, or because she does not understand or appreciate the tensile strength of her rod. On the contrary, she knows her tackle well, and has the utmost faith in its potentiality. I knew a lady friend who was never more than thirty minutes in bringing to gaff any salmon of from twenty-five to thirty pounds. And my Kentucky friend, Mrs. Bachmann (formerly Mrs. Stagg), killed her tarpon of two hundred and five pounds in eighty minutes.

The eastern pickerel, also called chain pickerel in the North, and jack in the South, was first described by Le Sueur, in 1818, from the Connecticut River. He named itreticulatus, owing to the "reticulations" or the netted character of the markings on the body.

Its range extends from Maine along the coastwise streams to Florida and Louisiana. West of the Alleghanies it has been reported from the Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas, but I am rather inclined to doubt it.

In its general form the pickerel resembles a small pike, though it is more slender, has a larger eye, and its coloration is quite different. The ground color is either olive-brown or some shade of green, the sides with a golden lustre, and the belly white. The sides are marked with many dark lines and streaks, mostly oblique and horizontal, forming a kind of network. There is a dark vertical bar below the eye; the dorsal fin is plain; the lower fins sometimes reddish; the caudal fin occasionally has a few dark spots or blotches.

In its habits of feeding and spawning it is similar to the pike, spawning in the early spring. It is found in weedy ponds in the North, and in the quiet, grassy reaches of southern streams. It feeds mostly on small fishes and frogs. It grows to a foot in length, usually, sometimes to two feet and weighing seven or eight pounds, though its usual maximum weight is three or four pounds.

In the New England states it is regarded by many as not only a fine game-fish, but an excellent food-fish as well. Others despise it on both counts, and there you are. To many a Yankee boy fishing for pickerel was the highest ideal of angling, but with the larger experience of matureyears his idol has been thrown from its pedestal, and he, too, has learned to look askance at the friend of his youth. But while the pickerel is not a game-fish of high degree, it is capable of furnishing a fair amount of sport with light black-bass tackle in waters not too weedy.

Ordinary black-bass rods and tackle are quite suitable for pickerel fishing, either with bait or fly, though the hooks should be larger, about 1-0 to 2-0, on gimp snells or heavy silkworm fibre. Where the weeds are too thick to admit of playing the fish a reel can be dispensed with, and a plain, light bamboo or cane rod, in its natural state, can be substituted for the jointed rod. It should be long enough to furnish considerable elasticity, say twelve feet, as its flexibility must subserve, somewhat, the purposes of a reel.

The pickerel will take a sunken fly in shallow water, after it has been fluttered on the surface awhile. The red ibis, soldier, Abbey, polka. Montreal, and coachman are all good pickerel flies, if cast toward the dusk of evening.

Skittering is a favorite method of fishing for the pickerel in weedy ponds. It is practised with a long cane rod, and line of about the same length as the rod, with or without a reel. A spoon bait,frog, or a piece of white bacon-rind cut in the semblance of a fish, or a frog's hind legs, skinned, are skittered or fluttered on the surface near the lily-pads and pickerel weeds. The fish should be kept on the surface if possible, when hooked, and drawn into open water; otherwise it may become entangled in the weeds and lost.

The pickerel may also be taken by still-fishing from a boat with the live minnow or frog. On open water, a very successful way is trolling with a small spoon and single hook, or a dead minnow. For these methods the reader is referred to pike or black-bass fishing on previous pages.

I have found the pickerel as far south as eastern Florida, where it is known as "pike," though it is rarely met with, and owing to its rarity is held in pretty fair esteem as a game-fish. In the marshes and rice ditches of South Carolina, and some sluggish streams of southeast Georgia, it is rather more plentiful, though usually of inferior size and dusky coloration. I once caught several on the Cooper River in South Carolina when fishing with very light tackle for "bream," which were unusually active and strong, and which impressed me as entitled to a better reputation as a game-fish than is commonly accorded to it byanglers. On the whole, the eastern pickerel is not half a bad fish, as English anglers would say. One might go farther and fare worse.

The western pickerel was first described by Le Sueur from the Wabash River. He named itvermiculatus, owing to the "wormlike" appearance of its markings. He collected it about 1818, but his description was not published until 1846. It inhabits the Mississippi Valley, south to Arkansas and Mississippi, and the tributaries of Lakes Erie and Michigan. It is not found east of the Alleghanies.

It is formed on the same general lines as the other members of the pike family, but is rather more slender and rounder, with a shorter head, proportionally, but a larger eye. Its color is olive-green, or grayish green, darker on the back, and belly white. The sides are covered with many dark curved streaks, inextricably mixed, or forming reticulations. The coloration is quite variable in different waters. A dark vertical bar is usually present below the eye; the sides of the head are variegated.

It is common in the grassy streams of the Middle West and weedy bayous of the Southwest, never exceeding a foot in length. The late Dr. Elisha Sterling, of Cleveland, Ohio, once sent me a plaster cast of one not more than eight inches in length, with the ovaries exposed, showing the ripe ova. It is not of much importance as a game-fish or as a food-fish. It spawns in early spring, and feeds on small fish, frogs, and tadpoles. It may be fished for in the same way, and with the same tackle as recommended for crappies on a previous page.

The banded pickerel, Long Island pickerel, or brook pickerel, as it is variously known, was one of the first of its family to be recognized. It was described by Gmelin, in 1788, from Long Island. New York. He named itamericanus, or "American pike," as a variety of the EuropeanEsox lucius.

It is found only east of the Alleghanies in coastwise streams from Massachusetts to Florida. It is almost a duplicate of the little western pickerel in its general form, and represents that speciesin eastern waters. The characteristics of fin rays, scales, and squamation of cheeks and gill-covers apply equally to both species.

The ground color is dark green; belly white; sides with about twenty distinct, blackish, curved, vertical bars, often obscurely marked, but not distinctly reticulated. There is a black vertical bar below the eye, and a horizontal band extending from the snout, through the eye, to the gill-cover. The lower fins are often quite red. I have collected it on the east coast of Florida of a beautiful emerald-green coloration, without distinct dark markings, and with orange-colored lower fins—a most beautiful fish.

Although an interesting little fish, it is of no importance to anglers and is merely mentioned here, with the little western pickerel, to enable the reader to identify the different members of the pike family. It spawns early in the spring. It seldom grows beyond a foot in length, and is usually much smaller. Fishing for it is on the same plane with sunfishing, and the lightest tackle should be employed.

Most of the species belonging to this family are the dwarf perches, the beautiful little darters of the clear streams. The only genera of importance as game-fishes areStizostedion, the pike-perches, andPerca, the yellow-perch. They are characterized by an elongate, nearly round body; small, rough, and adherent scales; rather large mouth with sharp teeth; spines on opercle, and preopercle serrate; branchiostegals six or seven; two dorsal fins, the first composed of spines, the second of soft rays; the anal fin with two spines.

Stizostedion vitreum.The Pike-perch. Body elongate; back somewhat elevated; head 4; depth 5; eye 4; D. XIV-20; A. II, 12; scales 10-125-25; head and cheeks sparsely scaled; canine teeth on jaws and palatines; opercle with small spines; pyloric cœca 3.Stizostedion canadense.The Sauger. Body elongate and spindle-shaped; head 3-1/2; depth 4-1/2; eye 5; D. XIII-18; A. II, 12;

Stizostedion canadense.The Sauger. Body elongate and spindle-shaped; head 3-1/2; depth 4-1/2; eye 5; D. XIII-18; A. II, 12;

scales 9-100-27; head and cheeks scaly; spines on opercle; head depressed and pointed; pyloric cœca 5 to 7.

Perca flavescens.The Yellow-perch. Body oblong, somewhat compressed, the back elevated; head 3-1/4; depth 3-1/4; eye 5; D. XIV-15; A. II, 7; scales 6-75-17; top of head rough; profile convex from dorsal to occiput, thence concave to snout, which projects; cheeks scaly; opercles nearly naked; preopercle and shoulder girdle serrated; teeth in villiform bands; branchiostegals 7; scales strongly ctenoid.

The pike-perch or wall-eye was first described by Dr. Mitchill in 1818, from Cayuga Lake, New York. He named itvitreain allusion to its large vitreous or glassy eye. It would have been indeed fortunate if the name glass-eye or wall-eye, with or without the suffix perch, had been adopted; for this fine fish is a true perch, with nothing "pike-like" in form or habits, except its large mouth and canine teeth, and nothing "salmon-like" except its trimly-shaped body. But these fancied resemblances have caused it to be called in various localities wall-eyed pike, yellow pike, blue pike, glass-eyed pike, salmon, and jack salmon. It is also known in Canada as dorè and okow, and among the commercial fishermen as "pickerel." However, the names pike-perch and wall-eyed pike have been rather universally adopted, and it will probably be always known by these names. Pike-perch is the Anglicized form ofLucioperca, the Latin name of the genus in Europe.

It is abundant in Canada and the Great Lake region, and fairly abundant in the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries, and especially in Lake Pepin. It is found also in the lake region of northern Minnesota, and in the lakes and streams of Wisconsin and Iowa. It is not uncommon in the upper Ohio River and tributaries, south to Tennessee. On the Atlantic slope it is more rarely found from Pennsylvania to Georgia, where it often exists in brackish water. I have taken it in my boyhood days at Ferry Bar, a point on the Patapsco River, near Baltimore. Maryland. Its range is being constantly extended by transplantation. The pike-perch is a very trimly-built and shapely fish. Its body is rather slender, not much compressed. The head is well shaped, neither too large nor too small, with a large mouth well filled with teeth, some quite long and sharp. The eye is very large and glassy. Like all the perches it has two dorsalfins, well separated; the caudal fin is forked. The scales are small and rough. The edge of the cheek-bone is toothed or serrated, and the edge of the gill-cover has one or more small spines. The color varies considerably in different localities, and even in the same waters. The usual color is olive, or greenish brown, mottled with brassy or yellowish blotches forming oblique but indistinct lines, or vermicular markings. The head is similarly colored and marked; the lower jaw is reddish; the belly and lower fins pinkish or yellowish; the first dorsal fin is not much marked, but has a large black blotch on its posterior border; the second dorsal fin is mottled with olive, brown, and yellow; the caudal fin is likewise mottled, with the tip of the lower lobe white or light colored.

The pike-perch frequents waters of good depth, only entering the shallow portions of streams and lakes at spawning time, and at night when feeding. It prefers a bottom of rock or gravel in clear and cool water, and loves to lie in the deep pools at the foot of riffles, or at the entrance of streams; or where the current is strong and deep near mill-dams and under sunken logs, or shelving rocks and banks, and about the timbers ofbridges in deep water. It is nocturnal in its habits, for which it is well fitted by its large and prominent eye, and seeks its prey, which consists mostly of small fishes, in shallow water.

It spawns in the spring, and in lakes usually resorts to its spawning grounds in the winter, where it is caught through the ice in large numbers in certain localities, notably in Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie, and in Lake Pepin and other northern lakes. It spawns in sand or gravel in shallow water. Its eggs are small, twelve to an inch, and average fifty thousand to a female. After spawning it retires to deeper water, and in summer locates in the deepest pools. During the spring freshets it sometimes ascends smaller streams in its search for food. Its usual weight does not exceed three or four pounds, though it often grows much larger, from ten to twenty pounds. I have seen preserved heads of fish that must have weighed thirty or forty pounds, which had been caught in Kentucky—in Tygert Creek and Kentucky River. It is highly prized as a food-fish, its flesh being white, firm, and flaky, and of an excellent flavor. It is a commercial fish of much importance, especially on Lake Erie, from whence it is shipped in large numbers to the city markets, where it always commands a ready sale, being in great demand during the Lenten season.

The pike-perch is a good game-fish, taking live bait eagerly, and rising pretty well to the fly. When hooked it is a vigorous fighter, pulling strongly and lustily. It does not exhibit much dash or take line rapidly, but swims away rather slowly, but at the same time is constantly tugging and jerking on the line in such a manner as to require careful handling with light tackle. Ordinary black-bass rods and tackle are well suited for the pike-perch up to six or eight pounds, either for bait-fishing or fly-fishing. Where they are found in considerable numbers, and especially on lakes where pickerel or pike abound, gimp snells should be used instead of gut snells to withstand their sharp teeth; otherwise the tackle may be the same as recommended for black-bass fishing. The best bait is a live minnow, though crawfish are successfully used. On lakes it should be fished for in comparatively deep water, over pebbly or rocky bottom. On streams the likely places are in deep and swift water, at the foot of rapids, or on a rocky lee shore with a brisk wind, where it congregates in search of minnows that are rendered almost helpless by the churning water.

Owing to its nocturnal habits, the hours from about sunset until dark are the most favorable. Night fishing is also quite successful should any one care for it. As a matter of experiment I fished Pewaukee Lake, in Wisconsin, one moonlit evening in summer, many years ago, in company with three other anglers, there being two to a boat. In a few hours twenty-two were landed to each boat, weighing from three to four pounds each. This was my only experience in fishing for pike-perch at night, but I have known many others to practise it very successfully.

Fly-fishing is most successful from about sundown until dark, or later, and on cloudy days also during the afternoon. Two flies on a four-foot leader may be used, one of which should be a light-colored one, as the coachman, or white miller; the other may be any of the hackles or the stone fly, oriole, gray drake, polka, professor, or Montreal. The same instructions concerning fly-fishing for black-bass may be profitably followed for the pike-perch, allowing the flies to sink two or three feet after each cast, though it is a more uncertain fish to locate, being much given to roaming in its search for food at different seasons.

Years ago I had fine sport on several occasions, about sundown, fly-fishing for pike-perch from the bridge over Neenah channel, the outlet of Lake Winnebago, in Wisconsin. It was really the best fishing I have ever had for this fish. All the conditions seemed to be just right, and they responded eagerly to the coachman and oriole at first, but at the approach of dusk they preferred the dusty miller and gray hackle. The fish averaged three pounds, and in the swift water were quite gamy. I have been very successful, on many occasions, fly-fishing on the Muskingum River, in Ohio, fishing just below the dams late in the afternoon; and also about the rocky tow-heads on the upper Ohio River,—the fish, however, averaging only about a pound. But taking everything into consideration, the character of the stream and its surroundings, I think I have had the most enjoyable experience with the pike-perch, both in fly-fishing and bait-fishing, on Rock River, Wisconsin, in the southern part of the state. It is a beautiful, rocky river in places, an ideal stream for wading. The fish also were of good size, running up to five or six pounds.

In fishing for pike-perch in different parts ofthe country I have noticed its variableness of coloration, which might be inferred from some of its names, as gray pike, yellow pike, blue pike, white salmon, etc. As I remember them, those caught in brackish water in Maryland were quite greenish, with silvery reflections and with dark markings. On Lake Erie the coloration varies somewhat with age, the younger ones being known as blue pike, the mature fish as yellow pike, and the oldest and largest as gray pike. On the rivers of the Middle West that are subject to periods of high and muddy water they are much paler. On the many pine-fringed lakes in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota the variation in color is quite apparent, both as to the ground color and markings. The older fish are very dark and dull on the back, and the younger ones much brighter.

The sauger was first described by C. H. Smith, in 1834, who named itcanadensis, from having collected his type specimens in Canada.

It is also known as jack, sand-pike, gray-pike, and rattlesnake pike. It is closely related to the pike-perch, though smaller and more slender, witha more pointed head and smaller eye. It is distributed through the Great Lake region and in the upper portions of the Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers. It grows to a length of twelve to fifteen inches. Its color is paler than the pike-perch, grayish above, with brassy sides, which are marked by several blackish blotches or patches, hence "rattlesnake pike."

It is not nearly so good a food-fish as the pike-perch, and is not of much importance as a game-fish. It may be fished for with the same tackle as that recommended for the calico-bass or crappie, in the same situations mentioned for the pike-perch. I have taken it with a gaudy fly on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, in Ohio, and in the Big Sandy and Tygert Creek, in Kentucky; also by still-fishing and trolling on Lake Erie about the Bass Islands. The meaning or etymology of the name "sauger" is unknown.

The yellow-perch was first described by Dr. Mitchill in 1814, from the vicinity of New York. He named itflavescens, "yellowish," owing to its coloration. It is closely allied to the perch ofEurope. It is commonly known as perch or yellow-perch, also as ringed-perch and raccoon-perch. It is abundant in the Great Lake region and in coastwise streams of the Atlantic slope from Nova Scotia to North Carolina. It is also common in some of the tributaries of the upper Mississippi River and in certain lakes in northern Indiana. It is a handsome fish, well proportioned, and of a lively disposition. It has a shapely body, with a depth of about one-third of its length, somewhat compressed, and with an arching back. The mouth is moderate in size, with bands of small, bristlelike teeth, but no canines, and has a projecting snout. The head is not quite one-third of the length of the body. Its back is dark olive, sides bright golden yellow, belly pale or pinkish, with half a dozen or more broad, dark, vertical bars. The lower fins are bright red or orange. While the coloration varies somewhat in different situations it is always brilliant, rendering it one of the handsomest fishes among the fresh-water species.

The yellow-perch is gregarious, always in schools, and the fish of a school will be about of a uniform size, be that great or small. It frequents waters of a moderate depth in streams orlakes or ponds. In streams, early in the spring, it frequently resorts to the edge or foot of riffles, when feeding, but later prefers the deeper water under mill-dams and about the submerged timbers of bridges, and the still water under hollow banks, or in the eddies of old logs, rocks, etc. It is averse to a muddy bottom in fresh water, but along the eastern coast it is often found on the weedy shoals of shallow bays in brackish water. In my boyhood days it was a prime favorite with myself and companions. We sought it on the mud-flats, among the water-plants, of the Patapsco River, near Baltimore. It was there known as "yellow Ned," and was considered a good pan-fish.

In Lake Michigan, after leaving its winter quarters in the spring, it fairly swarms about the piers and wharves of Chicago and other towns, where it is caught by thousands by men, women, and children with hand-lines, rods, and dip-nets. It is a very predaceous fish and feeds principally on small minnows and the young of other fishes, also on crawfish, tadpoles, small frogs, insects, etc. In large waters it grows to a pound or two in weight, sometimes more. Usually it is much smaller, a half-pound perch being a good-sized fish in most localities. In midsummer, in weedyponds, it is not good; but at other seasons, or in clear, cold water, it is an excellent pan-fish, firm and flaky. In brackish water it is good at all seasons. Whenever it has a muddy taste, it should be skinned, by which the objectionable flavor is removed almost entirely, and owing to its adherent scales it is the best plan for dressing it. It spawns early in the spring, in March and April, though in very cold waters not until May. The eggs are about twelve to the inch, and are held together by a glutinous substance in long, ribbonlike masses from two to six feet in length, and from an inch to three or four inches wide.

Light trout tackle, either for bait-fishing or fly-fishing, is suitable for the yellow-perch for those anglers who can appreciate the pleasure to be derived only by the use of appropriate and elegant tackle for any kind of fishing, and a pound perch is well worthy of such implements. With a fly-rod of a few ounces, a light click reel, an enamelled silk line, and a small leader and flies on hooks No. 7, the yellow-perch will not disappoint the most exacting angler who has a true love for the sport. Under such circumstances it is a good game-fish, eager to rise, bold to a degree, and fights to a finish.

Most of the flies used for black-bass, as coachman, polka, oriole, professor, Abbey, etc., are successful, as well as the hackles of various shades, and occasionally red ibis and stone fly. The late afternoon hours are to be preferred for fly-fishing. The flies should be allowed to sink with each cast, after being fluttered on the surface a few seconds.

In the absence of a more suitable rod, a light one of native cane, nine or ten feet long, will do good service without a reel. The line should be the smallest "sea-grass," or twisted silk. Hooks Nos. 5 or 6, on gut snells, with a small brass box-swivel for connecting snell and line, make up the rest of the tackle.

The most taking bait is a small minnow, but grasshoppers, crickets, white grubs, or earthworms are good. In tidal waters the shrimp is preferred. But in the absence of any of these baits, cut-bait, either fish or flesh, may be used with good results, for the yellow-perch is not very particular or fastidious. Large perch are also easily taken by trolling with the minnow, or a very small spoon on lakes or ponds. If the spoon is employed, but a single hook should be used, and that not too large. I am not anadvocate, however, for trolling for so small a fish, and merely mention it as one of the ways and means that may be followed. There are men who never rise above this method for any game-fish, but they are more to be pitied than blamed. They either lack the skill to practise more approved methods, or are too indolent to learn them.

The yellow-perch has been introduced into some waters west of the Rockies. A few weighing about a pound were sent to me from a lake about forty miles west of Spokane, which were of exceptionally bright coloration and good flavor. In the same box were two pike of about four pounds each, and a large-mouth black-bass of eight pounds, dressed, and very fat, plump, and delicious. These fish were the result of a single plant by the United States Fish Commission some years ago. On the Missouri River, a few miles above the Great Falls, a large lake has been formed by an expansion of the river, caused by building a dam for an electric light plant. Several years ago some yellow-perch were placed in this lake, or in the river just above it, but by whom I have not been able to ascertain. At all events, the lake now swarms with perch, strings of onehundred or more not being an uncommon catch in a single day, as I am credibly informed. As the water above the forks of the Missouri River is too cold for the perch, and the water of the lake too warm for trout or grayling, there seems to be no probability of any harm resulting from the introduction of the yellow-perch, though it was not a wise thing to do. About the only fish in that portion of the Missouri, before the perch were planted just above the Great Falls, were ling, suckers, and catfish.

In the many small lakes near Oconomowoc. Wisconsin, the yellow-perch thrives well. It is caught in the summer by men, women, and children with almost any kind of bait, and often with the rudest tackle. To the summer visitors it is a source of perennial delight, and an unfailing means of enjoyment to the juvenile anglers. In my day, Genesee Lake, a few miles from Oconomowoc, contained some of the largest perch of all the numerous lakes and lakelets. In this lake only the small-mouth bass and yellow-perch were found, no large-mouth bass or pike, and the bass and perch were of about the same size—two pounds. This uniformity of weight did not obtain in any of the other lakes. A basket ofperch from Genesee Lake was a handsome sight, and the fish were unusually sweet and savory. During the winter the residents catch yellow-perch through holes cut in the ice in great numbers, in all of the lakes mentioned. It was here that I devised my "Oconomowoc" bass fly with creamy yellow body, hackle of hairs of deer's tail, cinnamon (woodcock) wings, and tail of ginger; but for the perch of Genesee I found that with a tail of scarlet wool it was more effective. Many a two-pound perch responded to that lure, in days long gone, and as Thoreau says, "It is a true fish, such as the angler loves to put into his basket or hang on top of his willow twig on shady afternoons."

Thymallus signifer.Head 5-1/2; depth 4-2/3; eye 3; D. 24; A. II; scales 8-88 to 90-11; cœca 18; body elongate, compressed, highest under the anterior portion of the dorsal; head rather short, subconic, compressed, its upper outline continuous with anterior curve of the back; mouth moderate, the maxillary extending to below the middle of the eye; maxillary 6 (?) in head; jaws about equal; tongue, in the young, with teeth, which are usually absent in the adult; eye quite large, rather longer than snout; scales moderate; lateral line nearly straight; a small bare space behind isthmus; dorsal fin long and high, about 3-1/2 in length of body; adipose fin small; anal fin small; gill-rakers short and slender, about 12 below the angle.Thymallus tricolor.Head 5; depth 5-1/2; eye 4; D. 21 or 22; A. 10; scales 93 to 98; gill-rakers 7 + 12; maxillary 2-1/2 in head; dorsal fin 5-1/2 in length of body. Otherwise much asT. signifer.Thymallus montanus.Head 5; depth 4-1/2; eye 3-1/2; D. 18 to 21; A. 10 or 11; scales 8-82 to 85-10; gill-rakers 5 + 12; maxillary 3 in head; dorsal fin 4-1/2 in length of body. Other features much resemblingT. signiferandT. tricolor.

Thymallus tricolor.Head 5; depth 5-1/2; eye 4; D. 21 or 22; A. 10; scales 93 to 98; gill-rakers 7 + 12; maxillary 2-1/2 in head; dorsal fin 5-1/2 in length of body. Otherwise much asT. signifer.

Thymallus montanus.Head 5; depth 4-1/2; eye 3-1/2; D. 18 to 21; A. 10 or 11; scales 8-82 to 85-10; gill-rakers 5 + 12; maxillary 3 in head; dorsal fin 4-1/2 in length of body. Other features much resemblingT. signiferandT. tricolor.

Owing to the restricted area of its distribution, the "graceful, gliding grayling" is known to but comparatively few anglers in America. He who has been so fortunate as to have thisbeautiful fish respond to his deftly cast flies, will bear me out in the assertion that for courage, finesse, and all the qualities that constitute a true game-fish, the grayling is the equal of its congener, the trout.

In France it is known as ombre, in Germany as asche, and in Norway as harren. Among all English-speaking people it is the grayling, though occasionally it is called umber in parts of England. All of these names are somewhat descriptive of its grayish, ashy, or bluish coloration. Gliding along in clear, swift water it seems, indeed, a gray shadow; but fresh out of its native element it becomes a creature of mother-of-pearl, so beautiful and varied are its tints.

The graceful outlines and beautifully-moulded proportions of the grayling, together with the satiny sheen and delicate coloration of her adornment, have always impressed me as essentially feminine. The evanescent play of prismatic hues on her shapely and rounded sides, when fresh from the pure and crystal stream she loves so well, reminds one of changeable silk shot with all the colors of the rainbow. Her tall dorsal fin, with its rose-colored spots, she waves as gracefully and effectually as the nodding plumeof a duchess.

THE ARCTIC GRAYLINGTHE MICHIGAN GRAYLINGTHE MONTANA GRAYLING

THE ARCTIC GRAYLING

THE MICHIGAN GRAYLING

THE MONTANA GRAYLING

The grayling was named by the ancientsThymallus, owing to a smell of thyme that was said to emanate from the fish when freshly caught. However that may have been in days of old, it is not so now, though an odor of cucumbers is sometimes perceptible when it is just out of the water. But the name, if not the odor, has endured to the present day, forThymallusis still its generic appellation. The graylings were formerly included in the salmon family, and are still so considered by European ichthyologists, who include them in the genusSalmo. Dr. Theodore Gill, however, has formed them into a separate family (Thymallidæ), owing to the peculiar structure of the skull, whereby the parietal bones meet at the median line, excluding the frontal bones from the supra-occipital; whereas in the other salmonids the parietals are separated by the intervention of the supra-occipital bone, which connects with the frontals.

There are three species in America: one in the Arctic regions, one in Michigan, and one in Montana. To the untrained eye no greatdifference is apparent between these various species as to form and coloration,[1]and their habits are similar, all loving clear, cold, and swift water, with gravelly or sandy bottom. They feed on insects and their larvæ, small minnows, crustaceans, and such small organisms. They spawn in the spring. The eggs are smaller than trout eggs, running seven to the inch. They hatch in from ten days to two weeks, according to temperature of the water.

The Arctic grayling was first described by Sir John Richardson, in 1823, from specimens

collected at Winter Lake, near Fort Enterprise, in British America. He named itsignifer, or "standard-bearer," in allusion to its tall, waving, gayly-colored dorsal fin. It is presumably the oldest and original species, and it is not unlikely that it was transported to Michigan and Montana on an ice-field during the glacial period. It is often called Bach's grayling, in honor of an officer of that name who took the first one on the fly, when with the Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin, in 1819. It abounds in clear, cold streams of the Mackenzie and Yukon provinces in British America, and in Alaska up to the Arctic Ocean. This boreal grayling has a somewhat smaller head than the other species, its upper outline being continuous with the curve of the back. The mouth is small, extending to below the middle of the eye, which latter is larger than in the other graylings, while its dorsal fin is both longer and higher, and contains a few more rays. The sides are purplish gray, darker on the back; head brownish, a blue mark on each side of the lower jaw; the dorsal fins dark gray, splashed with a lighter shade, with rows of deep blue spots edged with red; ventral fins with red and white stripes. Alongthe sides are scattered a few irregularly-shaped black spots.

A friend of mine, an ardent angler, returned recently from Cape Nome and the Yukon, in Alaska, where he resided for several years. He informed me that the grayling is very abundant in the streams of that region, and that he had taken thousands on the fly; but not knowing that they differed from the Montana grayling, he did not examine them closely.

The Michigan grayling was first described by Professor E. D. Cope, in 1865, from specimens from the Au Sable River. He named ittricolor, on account of its handsomely-decorated fins and body. At that time it was abundant in the Au Sable, Manistee, Marquette, Jordan, Pigeon, and other rivers in the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, and in Otter Creek, near Keweenah, in the upper peninsula. It has a somewhat larger head than the Arctic form, its length being about one-fifth of the length of the body; the outline of the latter does not differ except in not being so prominent over the shoulder.

The coloration is purplish gray with silvery reflections, darker on the back, belly white and iridescent; sides of head with bright bluish and bronze lustre; sides of the body with small, black, irregular spots; ventral fins with oblique, rose-colored lines; dorsal with alternate dusky and rose-colored lines below, and alternate rows of dusky green and roseate spots above; caudal fin dusky with a middle roseate stripe.

In 1870-1876 I visited most of the grayling streams in Michigan, and found it abundant, affording fine fishing. At that time it was also in the Boyne, and in Pine Lake and River. I also took it in Lake Michigan while fishing for cisco from the pier at Charlevoix. Fish running from a pound to a pound and a half were common, and occasionally one of two pounds was taken.

It is sad to contemplate the gradual disappearance of this fish from the once densely populated streams of Michigan. At the present day the angler is fortunate, indeed, who succeeds in taking a brace of grayling where a few years ago his basket was soon filled. This deplorable state of affairs has been brought about by the axe of the lumberman, whose logs, descendingthe small streams on the spring rise, plough up the spawning beds, smothering the eggs and killing the helpless fry. As brook-trout spawn in the fall they escape this calamity, the fry being old enough in April to take pretty good care of themselves. The decrease of both trout and grayling is commonly attributed to overfishing; but while this may have its influence to a limited extent in lessening the numbers for a season, other causes must be looked for to account for the permanent depletion of certain waters.

A stream or pond will support but a limited number of fish, the number depending on the supply of natural food for both young and mature. By the supply of food on one hand, and the natural enemies of the fish on the other, a certain balance is maintained which if disturbed by, say, overfishing one season, will be restored by natural laws the next. And this state of affairs will continue so long as the natural conditions of the waters remain undisturbed.

By cutting down the pine trees at the sources of the streams and along the small tributaries, which are the spawning grounds of both troutand grayling, the natural conditions are changed. The scorching rays of the summer sun are admitted where once mosses and ferns and the trailing arbutus luxuriated in the shade of a dense growth of pines and hemlocks and firs. The soil becomes dry, the carpet of green shrivels and dies, and the myriads of insects that once bred and multiplied in the cool and grateful shade, and whose larvæ furnish the food for the baby fish, disappear. The brooks and rivulets diminish and vanish. A page has been torn from the book of nature, and the place that trout and grayling knew so well is known no more forever.

The Montana grayling was collected by Professor James W. Milner, of the United States Fish Commission, in 1872, from a tributary of the Missouri River, at Camp Baker, in Montana. He named itmontanus, from the name of the state. Lewis and Clark, however, during their wonderful journey that blazed the western course of empire, described, but did not name it, seventy years before, from fish taken near the head waters ofthe Jefferson River. A few years ago (1898) it was my good fortune to be the first to call attention to this prior description. Knowing that Lewis and Clark ascended the Jefferson nearly to its source in the Rocky Mountains, in 1805, I thought it extremely probable that those remarkably close observers had mentioned the existence of this beautiful and well-marked species. Upon investigation I found my surmise to be correct. On page 545 of Dr. Elliott Coues's edition (1893) of "The Lewis and Clark Expedition," I found the following:—

"Toward evening we formed a drag of bushes, and in about two hours caught 528 very good fish, most of them large trout. Among them we observed for the first time ten or twelve trout of a white or silvery color, except on the back and head, where they are of a bluish cast; in appearance and shape they resemble exactly the speckled trout, except they are not so large, though the scales are much larger; the flavor is equally good." (In a foot-note Dr. Coues stated that this fish remained unidentified.)

The locality where these fish were taken was near the head waters of the Jefferson River, where Lewis and Clark abandoned their canoes andcrossed the Continental Divide on horses purchased from the Indians. At this point the grayling is abundant today, as I know from personal observation, and coexists with the red-throat trout almost to the exclusion of all other species.

Lewis and Clark were both remarkable for clear and correct descriptions of the animals and plants met with during their journey, many of which were new to science; but as they neglected to give them scientific names, others have reaped the honors of many of their discoveries. I published my identification of the fish in question as being undoubtedly the grayling, and soon afterward received a letter from Dr. Coues, congratulating me and indorsing my opinion, which he said was certainly correct.

The Montana grayling is found only in the tributaries of the Missouri River above the Great Falls. In Sheep and Tenderfoot creeks, tributaries of Smith River, in the Little Belt Mountains, it is fairly abundant, as it is likewise in the three forks of the Missouri,—the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson rivers. Its ideal home is in several tributaries at the head of Red Rock Lake, swift gravelly streams, and especially in the upper reaches of the Madison above the upper cañon,where the water is rapid, though unbroken, the bottom being dark obsidian sand, with a succession of pools and shallows. I have taken fish weighing two pounds in Beaver Creek, in the upper cañon, which is also an ideal stream. Such situations are peculiarly adapted to the grayling, being preferred to the broken water of rocky streams so much favored by trout.

The Montana grayling is a trimmer-built fish than its Michigan cousin, being not quite so deep, proportionally, and with larger scales. Its dorsal fin is about the same height, but with one or two less rays.

Its back is gray, with purplish reflections; sides lighter, with lilac, pink, and silvery reflections; belly pearly white. It has a few irregularly-shaped black spots on the anterior part of the body, but none posteriorly as sometimes on the Michigan grayling. It has two oblong dark blotches in the cleft of the lower jaw, and a heavy dark line running from the ventrals to the pectoral fin; these markings are more pronounced in the male, being quite faint or wanting in the female. The dorsal fin has a rosy-red border, six or seven rows of roseate, roundish spots, ocellated with white, and gray blotches form lines between therows of red spots; in the upper, posterior angle of the dorsal fin are several larger oblong rosy spots; the ventral fins have three rose-colored stripes along the rays; the pectoral and anal fins are plain; the caudal fin is forked.

As a game-fish the grayling is fully the equal of the trout, though its way of taking the artificial fly is quite different, and the old hand at trout fishing must pay court to "the lady of the streams" with the greatest assiduity before he is successful in winning her attention to his lures. And even then he must become fully conversant with her coy and coquettish way of accepting his offer, though it be cast never so deftly. There is a rush and snap and vim in the rise of a trout to the fly that is lacking with the grayling. The trout often leaps above the water to seize the fly, while it is taken more quietly and deliberately, though just as eagerly, by the grayling from below. In other words, it is "sucked in," as English anglers term it, though that hardly expresses it, as the act is not so tame as might be inferred. On the contrary, the grayling rises from the bottom of a pool and darts upward like an arrow to seize the fly, though as a rule it does not break water, and is not so demonstrative asthe trout; but it seldom misses the mark, if the fly is small enough, which the trout often does.

Sometimes the grayling will rise a dozen times to a fly, and for some reason refuse it, but will take it at the very next cast. Just why this is so is one of the unanswerable problems that often vexes or confounds the angler. Presumably the fly is too large, or is not presented in just the right way to please her ladyship. But the angler should not despair under such circumstances, but remember the old couplet, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Moreover, he must remember that he is fishing for grayling, not for trout. He must not cast on a riffle, or at its head, but below, in the eddy or still water, where it is deepest. There lie the large fish, though small ones may be in the shallower water, and it is the latter that perplex one by their antics, oftentimes leaping over one's flies in play.

Trout generally lie in ambush beneath the bank, shelving rocks, or roots, usually in shallow water, from whence they rush with tigerlike ferocity upon the fly, often leaping over it in their eagerness for the fancied prey. On the contrary, grayling lie on the bottom of pools, in swiftwater, entirely in the open. They are also gregarious, assembling in schools, while the trout is a lone watcher from his hidden lair.

Some dry fly-fishers of England, echoing the opinion of Charles Cotton, term the grayling a "dead-hearted fish" that must be taken with a wet or sunken fly. This idea of its lack of gameness is implied in Tennyson's lines:—

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