THE WHITE PERCH. 37 



specimens of White Perch taken in the Delaware weighed, respectively, 

 one pound nine ounces, one pound thirteen ounces, and two pounds one 

 ounce. These were caught in a shad net in May, 1865, at the fishery 

 opposite Trenton. The average adult fish may be said to measure eight 

 inches and weigh from seven to nine ounces. He continues : '' I believe, 

 for reasons to be given, that the growth of the young is very rapid, and 

 that the August Perch are young, hatched late in the preceding May and 

 April ; in June these August Perch measuring about two-and-a-half to 

 three inches in length. ... I should judge that spawning occurred 

 between May 10 and June 10, usually nearer the former than the latter 

 date. This is based on the fact of having gathered very young fish, the 

 age of which \ guessed ixom. the general condition and amount of develop- 

 ment of the specimens. After the middle of June the White Perch are 

 found in localities widely different ; even waters with a dense growth of 

 lily and river weed are found to contain them in apparent health and 

 vigor — spots where the Rock fish could not live a day. Still later in the 

 summer, as the young Perch become quite strong and of some size, the 

 river, although in and above tide-water, fairly teems with them. At this 

 season they go in schools, sometimes of large size. I have known of 

 twelve, fifteen and twenty dozen August Perch being taken with a line in 

 as short a time as from three to five hours. Fishing in this way a line 

 with half a dozen hooks is used, and worms, sturgeon spawn or live min- 

 nows are used as bait. These schools of small Perch I supposed to be 

 broods of the preceding May, and that they kept together until late in 

 November. They pass down to the salt water and there separate. Larger 

 adult fish are not as restless as these smaller ones, and are found in deeper 

 water, and usually in the tide-waters. In their feeding habits the White 

 Perch agree very closely with the rock-fish. In all their habits, in fact, 

 the two fish are much alike, and in the Delaware they are always asso- 

 ciated, the most noticeable difference in their habits being the ability of 

 the Perch to remain and thrive in warmer waters than the rock-fish is ever 

 found frequenting." 



Harris, in his "Game Fish of Pennsylvania," writes: "When taken 

 with a skittered minnow or bright fly on a light rod, we do not hesitate to 

 class as a game fish the White Perch. Large individuals are caught on 

 the edges of the splatterdocks and in the eddies around the piers of the 

 bridges spanning the numerous creeks that flow into the Delaware, the 

 bait being a live minnow. At night, in the incoming tide, large Perch 



