FISHES AND MOLLUSKS OF LAKE CHAUTAUQUA. 173 
1818 Rafinesque obtained itin the Ohio River. He says, ‘‘It is one of the best fishes 
in the Ohio; its flesh is very delicate and divides easily, as in salmon, into large 
plates as white as snow. It is called salmon pike, white pike, white jack, or white 
pickerel, and picaneau blanc by the Missourians. It reaches a length of 5 feet.” 
It would appear from this that the muskallunge was a common, well-known fish 
in the Ohio a hundred years ago, even if we make some allowance for a possible 
misapplication by Rafinesque of some of the vernacular names. 
Although abundant in Lake Chautauqua, it is of rare occurrenc? elsewhere in 
the Ohio basin, and it is not found naturally in any other. It is said to occur in 
Lake Conneaut, Pennsylvania; Kirtland got it in the Mahoning, and we have seen 
the head of a large example taken in the Ohio near Evansville. 
For more than ten years the New York State Fish Commission has been propagat- 
ing the Chautauqua muskallunge with signal success. The first attempt, which 
was in the nature of an experiment, was made in the spring of 1890, under the 
immediate direction of Mr. Munroe A.Green. Although the work was not begun 
until rather late in the spring, it resulted in the development of successful methods 
and the hatching of 75,000 fry, which were planted in the lake. This is believed 
to be the first successful attempt to hatch the muskallunge by artificial methods, 
and the work has been continued with increasing success every year since that 
date, as shown by the following tabular statement: 

Number 






Number 
Year. of fry ae planted 
| hatched. qua Lake. elsewhere 
1890_- 75, 000 %5; 000}, |/3= 2 -seee os 
LPF Le necks Wyn eh Se eR eee ails ean een Sega ae LF 505 00h ele a02 000) |e aes sere 
1892 __ | 1,360,000 | 1,260,000 100, 000 
13) 2,150,000 | 1,150,000 1, 000, 000 
1894_ 2,970,000 | 1,970,000 1, 000, 000 
1895 | 2,480,000 | 1,700,000 780, 000 
1896 _- 1,815,000 | 1,000, G00 815, 000 
1897 | 3,075,000 | 13815,000 | 1,260,000 
EY Pinca o Dee ae cece Seen ae is a ieee ae en cee 2, 650, 000 900, 000 1, 750, 000 
LEG WL 8 ae ec ee PS eae 6 2 en oe en a | 18, 325, 000 | 11,620, 000 6, 705, 000 

New York was the first State to undertake the hatching of the muskallunge 
artificially and is the only one that now does it except Wisconsin, and it has only 
been by this artificial propagation that the supply of these fish has been kept up. 
In about two years after this hatching was begun at Chautauqua there was a 
perceptible increase in the number of muskallunge taken by the fishermen. Since 
then the supply has kept about normal, and it is not now known that the number 
has increased or decreased in the past few years, but it is known that there is no 
better place in the world to fish for muskallunge than at Lake Chautauqua. ’ 
As a game fish the Chautauqua Lake muskallunge is by many held in very high 
esteem. Though it may not be a great game fish in the best sense, its size, which 
is often enormous, renders its capture and landing by means of hook and line an 
undertaking by no means devoid of exertion and interest. Itis usually taken by 
trolling either with a spoon or good-sized minnow. At the time of our visit to this 
lake, the last week in September, the spoon seemed to be chiefly in use by the local 
anglers. A comparatively short line was used, and the boat was rowed only fast 
enough to keep the tackle in shape, the spoon being kept only a short distance under 
water. Later in the season, it was stated, minnows would be used. The ‘‘chub” 
(Semotilus atromaculatus) is the minnow most used early in the fall, but later, 
when the water becomes colder, the ‘‘shiner” (Notropis cornutus) is regarded as 
the better bait. The “cisco” (Notropis hudsonius) is also an excellent muskai- 
lunge bait and is said to constitute a considerable part of the regular food of that 
fish. The 4-pound example upon which the above color description was based 
had been feeding upon yellow perch, and one small example of that species was 
