24 THE PIKES: DTSTRIBUTIOlSr AND COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE. 



many other fishes. It may be kept for a long time, without deteri- 

 orating, in a salted or dried condition. 



Herbert (1849) said that it is coarse, watery, and of small value 

 on the table. 



Preble said (1908) that in the Athabasca and Mackenzie region, a 

 region of excellent food fishes, it is not higlily esteemed, but being 

 easily captured it is often a means of preventing much suffering from 

 famine, 



Benecke (1880 and 1885) stated that only the young rapitUy grow- 

 ing pikes are edible, the old ones being dry and tasteless. 



Jardine (1898) cited the "Analysis tables of the food collection" at 

 Bethnal Green Museum in support of his statement that the pike is 

 a nutritious food, containing more nitrogenous or muscle-forming 

 qualities than meat, and he added that as an adjunct to the domestic 

 bill of fare a small pike from 5 to 8 pounds' weight, caught during 

 November or the next three months, when fat and nicely cooked, is 

 a dish by no means to be despised, 



AS A GAME FISH. 



Go where pike can be found, fish for them with legitimate tackle, 

 give them a fair chance, and they will afford as much pleasure as any 

 royal smallmouth bass that ever swam (Tomlin, 1892), Cheney 

 (1896) wrote that the pike and pickerel had not been hatched in this 

 country, but that the pike was cultivated in Germany by artificial 

 methods and is regarded more highly in Europe than in this country. 

 He explained that the reason for this is that we have such a great 

 number of so-called game fishes considerably superior to the pike that 

 the latter has been relegated to an inferior position. However, the 

 pike has its loyal adherents who regard it highly as a rod fish and as 

 a table fish, 



EASTERN PICKEREL {Esox reticulatus). 



The eastern pickerel has a comparatively limited natural geo- 

 graphical distribution. It is believed originally to have been re- 

 stricted to the fresh waters of the Atlantic seaboard, being commonly 

 found everywhere east and south of the Allegheny Mountains from 

 southwestern Maine to Florida, 



Aided by man its range has been extended tliroughout the southern 

 half of Maine and even farther north into the lower waters of the 

 St. John River, into New Brunswick, and elsewhere. Thompson (1842 

 and 1850) did not record its being found in Lake Champlain, but 

 stated that it was the common pickerel on the east side of the Green 

 Mountains, as Esox lucius was on the other. 



However, it has since been reported in Missisquoi Bay (Evermann 

 and Kendall, 1902) and in the St. Lawrence as long ago as 1863 



