THE PIKES: DISTEIBUTION AND COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE. 35 



It does not rush about in marauding bands seeking what it may de- 

 vour. It Hes in wait and siezes what comes its way when it is inchned 

 to feed, yet often schools of tempting shiners have been seen swim- 

 ming imharmed in apparently dangerous proximity to big pickerel 

 heads. Again he wrote (1894) that during most of the year it resorts 

 to waters uncongenial to trout, and at all times it prefers such waters. 

 A warm, muddy '^ pond or stream with profuse growth of aquatic veg- 

 etation is its favorite abode. Trout can not exist long in such sur- 

 roimdings. In weedy waters where trout manage to exist pickerel 

 wiU also thrive, but trout will lie in the cooler, clear portions, while 

 pickerel seek the water plants and shallow water. In most instances 

 it would seem that the pickerel is not the whole, though possibly an 

 accessory, cause of the disappearance of trout, and harm done by 

 pickerel is overestimated. The injurious effect of pickerel upon trout 

 and salmon is more often indirect than direct, especially when it ap- 

 pears in congenial waters where trout or salmon are barely main- 

 taining themselves or decreasing. The indirect influence is upon the 

 food supply, and this ultimately reverts upon the pickerel itself. It 

 is an almost invariable rule that in time, after a period of increase in 

 numbers and size, pickerel begin to decrease owing to diminution of 

 the food supply.^ 



Referring to the same subject a number of years ago, after expres- 

 sing similar sentiments to the foregoing, the writer remarked that 

 excessive and destructive methods of fishing (to which should have 

 been added untimely fishing), pollution of the waters, and the de- 

 struction of forests are far more fatal to trout life than their natural 

 enemies. 



AS A GAME FISH. 



If the pickerel is not on the fist of honor as a game fish, it is entitled 

 to the distinction of being an exceedingly good sport fish. As for its 

 game quahties even, in its way, it possesses some characteristics that 

 equal the much-lauded trout. In fact, the writer has more than once 

 found to his surprise that a pickerel was on his hook instead of the 

 expected trout. The actions are much the same. If the tackle con- 

 sists of the customary long bamboo or stiff wooden pole, stout line, 

 and large hook, and the fish is lifted from the water by main strength, 

 it must be confessed that in this kind of fishing piscatorial poets 

 would find httle inspiration. But use a Hght casting rod, a slender 

 bait rod, or even a fly rod with about the same weight of hne as one 

 would employ for trout of like size, and no disappointment will be 

 experienced regarding the gameness of the fish. 



a The word "muddy" here does not refer to roDy water, but to a muddy bottom, and "warm" is a com- 

 parative term meaning warmer than trout waters. 



6 This discussion refers mainly to comparativelys mall lakes or streams into which the pickerel have been 

 introduced. 



