496 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



which they readily adhere. Recently it has been found that the 

 sticky substance can be washed off the eggs, after which they 

 are placed in jars and hatched like eggs of the shad and 

 whitefish. 



" Dexter," in Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1890, makes the fol- 

 lowing statement about the habits of this species in the lakes. 



These fish run up the rivers before or as soon as the ice is out, 

 and after spawning lie off the river's mouth feeding on and off 

 the sand flats, as the spring rains bring down plenty of worms, 

 and probably other matter which they feed on. As soon as the 

 water gets warm, they sag off and work along the shores in 10 

 to 30 feet of water, preferring cobbly bottom; from here they go 

 into very deep water, coming on the reefs to feed, and when the 

 wind blows very hard, or for a day or so after a big blow, you 

 will find them right on top of a reef. I think the wind changes 

 the water over the reefs, making a new current and cooler water, 

 so they come up to feed. They are a bottom fish, and to fish for 

 them successfully one must go to the bottom for them. They are 

 nearly as particular as salmon trout about the water they inhabit 

 and consequently rank very high as a food fish, being white, solid 

 and extremely free from bones. 



The colors of the pike perch change remarkably with age. The 

 young have oblique dark bands much like those of the kingfish 

 of our east coast, and bear little resemblance in the pattern of 

 coloration to the parent. The eye of the living fish is like a glow- 

 ing emerald. The rate of growth must be rapid. In July 1888 

 we took examples from 4 to 6 inches long, some of which seemed 

 to be the young of the year. 



This is one of the finest food and game fishes of the United 

 States. Its flesh is firm and white, flaky and well flavored. Com- 

 mercially the species ranks high in the Great lakes region, being 

 next in importance to the whitefish. In angling for the pike 

 perch live minnows are used in preference to all other baits, par- 

 ticularly such as are more or less transparent and with silvery 

 sides, as the fallfish or dace, the corporal roach, the redfin and 

 the gudgeon. On some parts of the Susquehanna, between 

 ■Columbia and Harrisburg, the favorite mode of capture is by 

 trolling with the spoon with the same kind of tackle as is used 

 for the black bass. 



