THE PIKE FAMILY
(_Esocidæ_)
The fishes of this family have a long body, not much compressed, and not
elevated. The head is long, with a flattened and prolonged snout; a very
large mouth filled with long and very sharp, cardlike teeth on the jaws
and roof of the mouth, and with smaller teeth on the tongue. They have a
single dorsal fin composed entirely of soft rays, and situated very far
back and opposite to the anal fin, which is likewise composed of soft
rays. The scales are small; the cheeks and gill-covers are more or less
scaly; the head is naked above. All are greedy, voracious fishes,
marauding tyrants, living almost entirely on other fishes. There is but
one genus, _Esox_.
_Esox nobilior._ The Mascalonge. Body elongate; head 3-2/3;
depth 6; eye 5; B. 17 to 19; D. 17; A. 15; scales 150 along the
lateral line; cheeks and opercles naked below, scaly above; in
about 8 rows.
[Illustration THE MASCALONGE OF THE WEEDS. TROLLING WITH HAND-LINE]
_Esox lucius._ The Pike. Body elongate; head 3-1/3; depth 5;
eye 6; B. 14 to 16; D. 16 or 17; A. 13 or 14; scales 125;
cheeks entirely covered with scales; lower half of opercles
naked, upper half with scales.
_Esox reticulatus._ Eastern Pickerel. Body elongate; head
3-1/2; depth 6; eye 8; B. 14 to 16; D. 14; A. 13; scales 125;
cheeks and opercles entirely covered with scales.
_Esox vermiculatus._ The Western Pickerel. Body elongate; head
3-1/4; depth 5 to 6; eye 6; B. 12; D. 11 or 12; A. 11 or 12;
scales 105 along the lateral line; cheeks and opercles entirely
covered with scales.
_Esox americanus._ The Banded Pickerel. Body elongate; head
3-1/2; depth 5-1/2; eye 5; B. 12 or 13; D. 11 or 12; A. 11 or
12; scales 105; cheeks and opercles entirely covered with
scales.
As some anglers find it difficult to distinguish a large pike from a
mascalonge, or a pike from a pickerel, owing to the similar shape and
appearance, the several species can be easily identified by means of the
following artificial key:
The mascalonge (_Esox nobilior_) has the upper part of both the
cheeks and gill-covers scaly, while the lower half of both
cheeks and gill-covers is naked; it has from 17 to 19
branchiostegal rays (the branchiostegals are the rays on the
under side of the gill-cover, that, like the ribs of an
umbrella, assist in opening and closing it during breathing).
Its coloration is of a uniform grayish hue, or when marked with
spots or bars they are always of a much darker color or shade
than the ground color.
The pike (_Esox lucius_) has the cheeks entirely scaly, but only
the upper part of the gill-cover, the lower half being naked;
it has from 14 to 16 branchiostegal rays; its coloration is a
bluish or greenish gray, with elongated or bean-shaped spots
covering the sides, and which are always of a lighter hue than
the ground color.
The eastern or reticulated pickerel (_Esox reticulatus_) has
both the cheeks and the gill-covers entirely covered with
scales; it has from 14 to 16 branchiostegal rays; its
coloration is shades of green, with sides of golden lustre, and
marked with dark reticulations, mostly horizontal. It is rarely
or never found west of the Alleghanies.
The little western pickerel (_Esox vermiculatus_) has both
cheeks and gill-covers entirely scaly, as have all the
pickerels; it has from 11 to 13, usually 12, branchiostegal
rays; its coloration is greenish or grayish, with curved
streaks on the sides forming bars or reticulations; the color
is quite variable, sometimes plain olive. It is found only west
of the Alleghanies.
The banded or American pickerel (_Esox americanus_) has, like
the other true pickerels, both the cheeks and the gill-covers
entirely covered with scales; it has 12 or 13 branchiostegal
rays; coloration dark green, sides with many distinct black
curved transverse bars; a black bar below the eye, and one from
the snout through the eye to the gill-cover. It is found only
east of the Alleghanies.
THE MASCALONGE
(_Esox nobilior_)
The specific name _nobilior_, long current for the mascalonge, and the
one based on its earliest accurate description, was conferred by Rev.
Zadoc Thompson in 1849 in "Notes on Certain Vermont Fishes," in the
Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. III,
published July 18, 1849, and later he described it fully in the "History
of Vermont," 1853, Part I. It is an excellent and appropriate name, and
one that has become familiar to anglers. I have retained it, inasmuch
as it was discarded, I think, for a very insufficient reason.
The specific name _masquinongy_, which has recently been given to this
species in the books, is supposed to have been given to the mascalonge
by Dr. Mitchill in 1824. His description, however, cannot now be found.
It is alluded to by De Kay in his "Fishes of New York," in 1842, who
gives its reference as "Mirror, 1824, page 297"; but I have searched for
it in vain, as have others. De Kay merely says: "According to Mitchill,
who describes a specimen 47.0 long and weighing thirty pounds, the fin
rays are as follows: 'D. 21; P. 14; V. 11; A. 17; C. 26.' But this
radial formula is just as applicable to Richardson's _E. lucius_: 'D.
20; P. 16; A. 18,' also given by De Kay." The size and weight of the
alleged specimen of Mitchill would seem to indicate the mascalonge, but
the great northern pickerel, _Esox lucius_, occasionally reaches a like
size and weight. I once caught one weighing twenty-five pounds in
northern Wisconsin, and saw several a little heavier, one of fully
twenty-eight pounds.
Dr. Kirtland, in 1838, had, previous to De Kay, applied Mitchill's name
_masquinongy_ to a specimen from Lake Erie, and it is upon this
evidence, principally, that this name has been adopted as the specific
title of the mascalonge.
But afterward Dr. Kirtland used Thompson's name _nobilis_ (meaning
_nobilior_) and Le Sueur's name _estor_ for the mascalonge. He also
subsequently described the mascalonge from Lake Erie as _atromaculatus_,
and one from the Mahoning River, Ohio, as _ohiensis_. From this it would
appear that Dr. Kirtland, although a good naturalist in his day, was not
at all clear in his estimation of the mascalonge.
There has been considerable controversy concerning the common or
vernacular name of the mascalonge. Some claim it is from the French, and
derived from the words "masque" and "allonge," which virtually mean
"long face," and which is certainly nearer to the common pronunciation
of mascalonge or muscalunge. Others claim it is an Indian name from the
Ojibwa language, as "mash," meaning "strong," and "kinoje," meaning
"pike." "Mash" is also said to mean "spotted" and "deformed." From mash
and kinoje come "maskinonge," as it appears in the statutes of Canada.
The name has been spelled in numerous ways, as evidenced in the Century
Dictionary, which gives the following variations: maskalonge,
mascalonge, maskalunge, maskallonge, masquallonge, masq'allonge,
mascallonge, muscalonge, muskalonge, muskalinge, muskellunge,
moskalonge, moscononge, maskinonge, maskanonge, maskenonge, maskenozha,
maskinoje, and maskenonge, to which might be added muscalinga,
mascalinga, etc. There is no authority or precedent for the name
"muskellunge" as used by some writers and anglers, as neither the
original French or Indian words have the letter "u" in either the first
or last syllable. Moreover, the term "lunge" is in some sections applied
to the lake trout. I am aware, of course, that the name has obtained
considerable currency, but in much the same way that the black-bass is
called "trout" in the South, and the pike-perch is denominated "salmon"
in certain localities.
Rev. Zadoc Thompson, who was the first to call attention to the scaling
of the cheeks as a diagnostic character, gives the vernacular name
"masquallonge," and attributes it to French derivation, to which opinion
I am inclined. As the most prominent writers on fish and fishing give it
as "mascalonge," that name should be universally adopted, no matter what
its origin, or whether derived from the French Canadians or the
Chippeway Indians; that question is more interesting to philologists
than to anglers. As an instance of inconsistency, or of the irony of
fate, the books give the scientific name of the subgenus as
_mascalongus_, from the French, and the specific name as _masquinongy_,
from the Ojibwa.
The mascalonge is common in the St. Lawrence basin and the Great Lakes,
more abundant in the lakes of northern Wisconsin, less common in the
upper Mississippi River, Chautauqua Lake. New York, and Conneaut Lake,
Pennsylvania, and rare in the upper Ohio River and tributaries. It has a
long body, somewhat compressed, its depth being about one-fifth of its
length; the head is large, about a fourth of the length of the body, and
flattened, with the lower jaw projecting. It has a terrible array of
teeth of assorted sizes. On the edge of each side of the lower jaw are
several long, bayonet-shaped teeth, from one-half to an inch apart; in
the front part of the tip of the projecting lower jaw are a few short
but sharp teeth, recurved; in the front part of the upper jaw are three
clusters of long, fanglike teeth, standing out amidst the smaller,
cardlike teeth; on the edge of the forward half of the upper lip is a
row of small, but very sharp, recurved teeth; back of these on the roof
of the mouth (vomer and palatines), and extending back from the fangs in
front to the throat, are three rows of cardlike teeth, recurved and very
sharp.
The coloration and markings vary so much that several varieties have
been needlessly established, as the variations are found in every
locality, and do not seem to depend on habitat or environment. The usual
color is dark gray, greenish or brownish, always darker on the back,
lighter on the sides, and belly white or whitish. The fins usually have
dusky or slate-colored spots or blotches; the lower fins and caudal fin
are often reddish. The markings of the body vary a great deal. In the
young the upper half of the body is covered with small, round black
spots, which usually disappear or change their shape as they grow old.
In mature fish the spots are more diffuse, sometimes enlarging to an
inch or more in diameter, or by coalescing form vertical broad bands,
while in others there are no distinct dark markings. And while all of
these various markings are found in fish from the same locality there is
no apparent structural difference.
I have examined and compared specimens from the St. Lawrence and Indian
rivers, New York. Lake Erie, the Wisconsin lakes, Lake Pepin, Chautauqua
and Conneaut lakes, Scioto and Mahoning rivers, in Ohio, and have seen
preserved heads of large ones from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and
found that they all agree so well in the number of branchiostegals,
squamation of cheeks and opercles, in dentition, fins, and in
measurements, that they must all be considered as one and the same
species. At the Chicago Columbian Exposition there were some twenty very
large specimens of mounted skins from Canadian waters, in the exhibit of
the Ottawa Museum, which showed well the variation in markings. Some
still showed the dark spots on a gray ground; others were more or less
distinctly barred with broad or narrow bands; others showed both bars
and diffuse spots; and still others were of a uniform slate or grayish
coloration, without markings of any kind. In the museum of the Cuvier
Club, in Cincinnati, there are quite a number of mounted skins of
mascalonge from the Wisconsin lakes, mostly large ones, that also show
all of the various markings, as well as those of a uniform coloration.
About 1890 I donated to the Cincinnati Society of Natural History a
specimen from Lake Erie; and in 1892 I donated to the United States
National Museum two specimens from Lake Erie, and one from a tributary
of the Muskingum River, in Ohio. All of these Ohio fish were from
eighteen inches to two feet long, and all showed similar markings, being
profusely covered with round black spots from an eighth to a quarter of
an inch in diameter. Where the spots become diffused, and the bands are
inclined to spread and coalesce, they are always more distinct toward
the tail. In a mascalonge of less than a foot in length the spots are
very black, very round, and quite small, not exceeding a sixth or an
eighth of an inch in diameter.
Various appellations have been bestowed on the mascalonge to denote its
rapacity, as the shark, wolf, or tiger of the waters, all of which are
well merited by that fierce marauder. It subsists entirely on fish,
frogs, snakes, and even the young of aquatic mammals and water fowl.
Nothing in the shape of food comes amiss to him. He is solitary in his
habits, lying concealed among the water plants and rushes at the edges
of the streams or channels and along the shores, or beside shelving
rocks or banks in clear lakes, from whence he darts open-mouthed upon
the luckless fish that approaches his lair. The number of fishes
swallowed by a mascalonge during a single summer is almost incredible;
and they are not minnows and small fry alone, such as are devoured by
other predaceous fishes, but such as are old and large enough to
reproduce their kind. It is fortunate that the mascalonge is
comparatively a rare fish. As it is now being artificially propagated in
some states, great care and judgment should be exercised as to the
waters planted, so as not to jeopardize other and better game-fishes.
It spawns early in the spring and in very shallow water, where most of
the eggs are devoured by frogs, turtles, fishes, and water fowl--a wise
provision of nature when it is considered that the female deposits from
one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand eggs. The eggs are quite
small, about ten or twelve to an inch, and hatch in about two weeks. The
mascalonge is the most valuable food-fish of its family, and is
pronounced by some as being really excellent; but I consider it much
inferior to the whitefish, lake-trout, pike-perch, black-bass, or
brook-trout. While possessing no especial flavor, its flesh is firm and
flaky, more so than that of the pike or pickerel, and it commands a
ready sale in the markets.
It grows occasionally to an enormous size. I have taken it up to forty
pounds, good weight. The late Judge Potter, of Toledo, Ohio, an angler
of the old school, informed me that he had seen, in early days, many
that weighed from fifty to seventy-five pounds. Mr. L.H. McCormick,
formerly of Oberlin College, Ohio, saw one taken in a pound net that
weighed seventy-two pounds. The late Dr. Elisha Sterling, formerly of
Cleveland. Ohio, a contemporary of Judge Potter and the late Dr.
Garlick, the father of artificial fish-culture in America, told me of
one he once speared in Lake Erie that weighed eighty pounds, and said
that those of fifty to sixty pounds were common in the forties.
The mascalonge is the best game-fish of its family. When of large size,
from twenty to thirty pounds, it exhibits a bull-like ferocity when
hooked, making furious dashes for liberty, and if not stopped in time
will eventually take to the weeds. It exhibits great powers of
endurance, but little finesse or cunning in its efforts to escape. It
depends on main strength alone, swimming swiftly in straight lines, as
might be inferred from its shape. Its long body does not admit of the
quick doublings of the black-bass or brook-trout. If kept on the surface
with a taut line it sometimes leaps into the air; but if allowed its own
sweet will it bores toward the bottom, or endeavors to reach the refuge
of weeds or rushes. One of less weight than twelve pounds, when hooked,
can scarcely be distinguished from the pike or pickerel in its manner of
resistance, and exhibits but little more gameness.
A black-bass rod of eight or nine ounces is sufficient for the largest
mascalonge one is likely to encounter in these days. I caught one on the
St. Lawrence, many years ago, that weighed thirty-two pounds, on an
eight-ounce Henshall rod, and gaffed it in twenty minutes. Others have
done the same even with a lighter rod. But it must be remembered that
the weight of the fish, added to his fierce lunges, is very trying to a
light rod, and I should not recommend one of less weight than eight
ounces, which will answer for all emergencies in skilled hands. A good
multiplying reel, a braided silk or linen line, size E or F, and Sproat
or O'Shaughnessy hooks Nos. 3-0 to 5-0 on gimp snells, with brass
box-swivel for connecting snell and line, constitute the rest of the
tackle.
The best season for mascalonge fishing is in May or June, and in
September and October, the latter months preferable. The most favorable
hours are in the early morning and late afternoon. The middle of the day
may be fished with a better prospect of success on cloudy, lowering
days, with a brisk wind.
The best bait is a large minnow, either alive or dead, though a frog
answers very well; and in the absence of either, a trolling-spoon, No.
4, with a single hook, may be utilized for casting. Rowing along in
water from five to ten feet deep, the bait should be cast as far as
possible to the edge of weed patches, reeling it again very slowly, or
if the bait is alive it may be allowed to swim outside of the
water-plants for a short time. By moving along continuously, and making
frequent casts, this method is much more successful than still-fishing.
When the wind is just right, or when the current is strong enough and
the wind not contrary, it is a good plan to allow the boat to drift
while casting.
As soon as a fish is struck and hooked the boat should be moved to
deeper and open water at once, in order to give free play to the fish
and lessen the probability of its taking to the weeds. In open water the
angler has a better chance successfully to play and land his quarry,
which should be kept on the surface as much as possible. He can be aided
very much in his efforts by the careful and judicious management of the
boat by a skilful oarsman.
When the mascalonge shows signs of weakness and can be drawn alongside,
it should be gaffed at once. Not by striking at it with quick and
violent motions, which serve only to frighten the fish and endanger the
angler's tackle, but the gaff should be kept below the fish until it can
be drawn over it, and then by raising it slowly and cautiously, until
near enough, when, by a quick upward and drawing motion, the point of
the hook should be driven into the throat or breast of the fish, and by
the same motion the fish should be lifted into the boat. It should then
be killed by a smart stroke on the head, as a wound from its sharp teeth
is no trifling matter. In the absence of a gaff-hook the fish should be
more thoroughly exhausted before bringing it alongside the boat, when it
should be struck a stunning blow on the head before being taken in.
The bait or spoon may be trolled along the edges of the channel, just
outside of the weed patches, from a moving boat, with a line of thirty
to fifty yards. In trolling, the revolving spoon, glistening and
shining, is the attractive lure, and any addition of a minnow, or strip
of fish or pork-rind, or other bait, as is often resorted to by some, is
entirely unnecessary. It adds nothing to the chances of hooking a fish,
and should never be practised by the consistent angler. He may use
pork-rind if he wishes, but let it be used alone, on its own merits. A
spoon is bad enough in any case, but it only makes it more reprehensible
and repulsive, to the angler at least, to handicap it with bait of any
kind; even the bunch of feathers that usually adorns the spoon should be
discarded, as it is of no practical use.
Most mascalonge are taken, I am sorry to say, by trolling with a
hand-line of heavy braided linen, size B or C, and a spoon of very large
size, as large as No. 8, which seems to be the favorite size with
hand-trollers. In this method of fishing the mascalonge hooks himself
when he strikes the spoon. It is then drawn in, hand over hand, as the
sailors say, with might and muscle. And as might be supposed, those who
practise this method are loudest in their praise of the mascalonge as
the "king of all game-fishes." A quick pull, a strong pull, and a pull
all together, with the hauling aboard as soon as possible of the
struggling fish, amidst much splashing and floundering, seems to be
their estimation of gameness in a fish.
The foregoing remarks apply to fishing on lakes and quiet, weedy streams
of the Northern states. In the clear and swifter waters of the upper
Ohio, and its tributaries, the mascalonge lies in the deep pools during
summer and fall, where it is taken by still-fishing. A large sucker,
weighing from half a pound to a pound, is the favorite bait, with
suitable rod and reel. The fish is given plenty of time to gorge the
bait before striking, and this is quite important with so large a bait.
Many large mascalonge, there called "pike," have been taken in this
manner in those waters, events to belong remembered and talked about,
while the head is carefully preserved for the admiration and envy of
future generations of anglers.
Once when returning from a fishing trip to northern Wisconsin when
mascalonge were much more in evidence than at the present day, I was
carrying the head of a forty-pounder that just filled an ordinary tin
bucket. At Appleton, while waiting for the train to Green Bay, the big
head was the centre of an admiring group of anglers. Then came the
natural and inevitable query, "Where did you catch it?" In order to
avoid a long recital, which only could have done justice to the subject,
and expecting the train at any moment, I replied, "An Indian speared it
on Lake St. Germain." They looked at me as if I had seven heads; then
one said: "Well! well! It requires an awful lot of moral courage to make
such an admission." But I killed it, all the same, on a nine-ounce rod,
and my Indian canoe-man gaffed it.
THE PIKE
(_Esox lucius_)
The pike is more generally known in the United States as "pickerel," and
sometimes as the great northern pickerel to distinguish it from the
pickerel, properly so-called. In England the young pike is a pickerel,
an older one a jack, and the mature fish a pike. In England and
continental Europe the pike (_E. lucius_) is the only species of the
family inhabiting their waters, while there are five species of the
family in America, which makes it all the more confusing when the name
"pickerel" is applied indiscriminately to all,--even the mascalonge
being sometimes alluded to as an "overgrown pickerel."
The range of the pike in America is from Lake Champlain, the Great Lake
region, and the upper Mississippi River, north to Alaska; it is rare in
the Ohio Valley.
Next to the mascalonge the pike is the most important and largest member
of the pike family. It has a long body, somewhat compressed, its length
being a little more than five times its depth. The head is large,
somewhat more than a fourth of the length of the body, with a long,
flattened, and projecting snout; the teeth are similar, but not quite so
large or numerous as in the mascalonge.
The coloration and markings of the pike are quite constant, not varying
so much as in others of the family, and is very different from those of
the mascalonge or any of the pickerels. The ground color is grayish or
greenish gray, darker on the back and fading to silvery white on the
belly; the sides, from head to tail, are profusely covered with
irregular, oblong, or bean-shaped whitish spots or blotches, much
lighter than the ground color; the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are
marked with dark spots or blotches. It is somewhat more gregarious, and
is more of a rover than the mascalonge; otherwise its habits are very
similar, and it coexists with that fish in many waters, especially in
the region of the Great Lakes. It feeds on fish, frogs, and
water-snakes. Its usual weight reaches fifteen pounds, though it
occasionally grows to four feet in length and a weight of twenty-five or
thirty pounds.
As a food-fish it is variously estimated. Some consider it to be very
good, and it sells well in the markets,--which, however, is not always a
fair criterion. It is much better in the fall and winter than in summer.
Most people who know it best, and I agree with them, think it inferior
to any fresh-water fish for the table except the carp and sucker. Its
flesh is soft and dry, and unless of large size is not flaky, and it is,
moreover, very full of small bones. One of ten pounds, stuffed with a
savory dressing and baked, is not unpalatable, but cannot be compared
favorably with the whitefish, black-bass, or trout.
The pike when of large size is a good game-fish. Its weight and
strength, added to its bold rushes when hooked, are very trying to light
tackle. One of fifteen pounds is worthy of the angler's most serious
attention on an eight-ounce rod. Its manner of fighting is similar to
that of the mascalonge, though in a lesser degree, and it does not
continue its resistance so long. After a few frantic rushes it weakens
very materially, and if kept away from weeds soon gives up the struggle
for freedom.
In England, where game-fishes are much scarcer than in this country, the
pike is considered a fine game-fish and is much sought after by
bait-fishers, and with a wonderful array of murderous traces,
minnow-gangs, and spinning tackle. In the United States, where there are
so many better game-fishes, it is not often made the object of special
pursuit. Most pike are caught by anglers in northern waters when fishing
for black-bass.
Ordinary black-bass rods and tackle are very suitable for pike fishing,
though where they run large, eight to fifteen pounds, an eight or
nine-ounce rod is to be preferred to a lighter one. A good multiplying
reel, a braided line, either silk or linen, size F, and Sproat hooks,
Nos. 2-0 to 3-0, are better suited to large pike than black-bass.
[Illustration THE EASTERN PICKEREL]
[_Esox reticulatus_]
[Illustration THE WESTERN PICKEREL]
[_Esox vermiculatus_]
[Illustration THE PIKE-PERCH]
[_Stizostedion vitreum_]
[Illustration THE YELLOW-PERCH]
[_Perca flavescens_]
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 a _single_
hook, 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 hook without 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 to-day. 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
as to 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, though actual 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, usually three 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 built on 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
exceptions to 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 will take 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
(_Esox reticulatus_)
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 it _reticulatus_, 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 mature
years 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 belong 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 south-east
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 by
anglers. 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
(_Esox vermiculatus_)
The western pickerel was first described by Le Sueur from the Wabash
River. He named it _vermiculatus_, 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 South-west, 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
(_Esox americanus_)
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
it _americanus_, or "American pike," as a variety of the European _Esox
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 species in 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.