BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 351 



174.— THE FISH OF DEVIL.'S T.AKE, DAKOTA. 



By HENRY W. I.ORD. 



[From a letter to Prof. S. F. Baird.] 



Devil's Lake is about 50 miles long, and bas a sbore-line of over 300 

 miles. Tbe water is sligbtly salt, very brigbt and clear, and in many 

 places said to be very deej). The water has the greenish tint of sea 

 water, and along the shore where the waves are beating and evaporat- 

 ing on the roclis and sand it produces the exact smell ot the sea-shore. 

 The only fish in the lake of any size are the common long-nosed pick- 

 erel of the eastern i)or.ds and rivers (of the Esox familj^, T think). 

 They are very numerous, and are caught in great quantities. Of small 

 fish, the minnows are in vast numbers. The settlers all think that the 

 minnows are young pickerel, but I am convinced that not one in a 

 thousand is pickerel, though they look enough like tliem to suggest 

 the idea. I think they are a little thrown back and come to maturity 

 at about 2 inches in length. I also observe among them a very few of 

 what are usually called shiners, so common in all eastern brooks, but 

 have never seen any that were more than two and a half inches long. 

 When I talked with you it seemed to be your opinion that the rockflsh 

 (striped bass, I suppose), so numerous in the Potomac, would thrive 

 here. I have no doubt they would. You also thought the whitefish 

 would do well. I have no doubt that the several varieties of land- 

 locked salmon and lake trout would thrive admirably. Of course all 

 kinds would be subject to depredations from the pickerel, but the mill- 

 ions of other minnows in the lake would at least divert attention from 

 thanew plant and give them good chance for escape. I think it would 

 be very important to send a good supply of eels. I believe they would 

 thrive prodigiously. They could not get away, as the lake is abso- 

 lutely landlocked. 



Directly north of the city, and 6 miles distant, are the Sweet Water 

 Lakes, a group of lakes which appear, according to the map, to be 

 connected. These lakes have no outlet. They extend about 12 miles 

 in length, and cover much ground. They appear to be deep. There 

 have been a few settlers on the banks for two or three years, and they 

 all agree that there are no fish of any kind in these lakes, except very 

 small minnows, which are, as I saw yesterday, very numerous. The 

 water in these lakes is entirely fresh and sweet and pure. I think that 

 a supply of black bass should be sent both for these fresh lakes and for 

 the large lake. They will hold their own against pickerel or any other 

 predatory fish. Eels would also do well in the fresh- water lakes. 



Devil's Lake, Dakota, July 28, 1884. 



