WHITE-FISH.
_Coregonus Albus--Attihawmeg._--Although included in the salmon family
by having the second dorsal adipose, and the fin-rays soft, this fish
differs totally from either the trout or salmon. It has minute
velvet-like teeth, scarcely perceptible to the touch, except on the
gill-arches, where there is a row of long and slim ones, like bristles;
the scales are large and the body compressed like that of a shad, and it
has been called the Fresh-water Shad. The mouth is very small, utterly
unsuited for seizing the prey on which the trout and salmon feed; the
color of the back is greyish blue, and the sides white.
Fin-rays, D. 13.0; P. 17; V. 12; A. 13; C. 19-6/6, the second dorsal
being adipose.
The proper appellation for this fish is the Indian name, Attihawmeg, and
if sportsmen would in all cases follow the names used by the aborigines
they would show more sense than the common people of our country, who
think every fish with a spiny back fin must be a bass, and every other a
trout. The Attihawmeg abounds in Lake Huron, where it attains a weight
of twelve to fourteen pounds, and is tolerably abundant in Lakes Erie,
Ontario and Michigan. It feeds on mussels and shellfish, or on aquatic
plants, and is usually taken in nets. The general opinion is that it
will take no bait, natural or artificial; but it might be tempted by the
artificial fly, or perhaps the cray-fish. It is the finest fresh-water
fish of America upon the table, having no rival that approaches it in
excellence except the Otsego bass. But being extremely delicate, it
should be eaten immediately on leaving the water, and is never in
condition in the cities. If it has been frozen, as is always the case in
Winter, the Attihawmeg is utterly worthless. It is unsurpassable split
and broiled, very similar in appearance and flavor, only much superior
to the shad. It is not properly a game fish, whatever may be thought of
its delicacy of taste and appearance, but a description of it is
necessary to complete the series and to distinguish it from certain
others.
To take it, however, as the Indians do in the Sault Ste. Marie, with
long-handled scoop-nets, amid the roar and rush of the seething waters
is no mean sport, and requires a readiness of hand, sharpness of eye,
and steadiness of foot possessed by few men. Its artificial culture has
been made a matter of special concern in the States bordering on the
great lakes.