FISHERIES AT CHICAGO AND VICINITY. 793 



Lepidostens osseus, Liu.; gar pike. — Occasionally taken. 



Acipenser ruhieundus, Les.; sturgeon. — Very abundant. Commence 

 running the first of May and continue all through the warm weather. 

 This species is* sometimes taken in the seine. They occasionally stray 

 in the Calumet river and specimens have been taken 18 miles from its 

 mouth. The largest haul of this species ever taken amounted to 8000 

 pounds of dressed fish. 



3. — CALUMET RIVER AND LAKE. 



At present there is very little fishing done throughout the course of 

 the Calumet River. A few men earn a scanty subsistence by using 

 small gill-nets in the numerous sloughs and bays extending off from the 

 main channel a few miles above the mouth, together with the seining at 

 the mouth of the river and in Calumet Lake. During the fall and spring 

 the fishermen work the pound-nets off South Chicago, besides gill and 

 hoop-uets 15 miles above the mouth, which includes all the regular fish- 

 iijg. 



About ten years ago this stream contained large numbers of pickerel 

 and black bass, and in consequence was a favorite resort for anglers 

 from Chicago. Within the last five years, however, these fish have de- 

 creased in numbers so rapidly that at present a person might troll for 

 several days without getting a fish. There are, however, a few favored 

 localities on the Little Calumet where these species may still be taken. 

 The seining at the mouth of the river is for lake species, which run in 

 during the spring and summer. The fish caught in the gill-nets are ab- 

 tained by setting the net across the mouth of a slough opening into the 

 river. The fishermen row to the farther end and return splashing the 

 water and pushing a long pole into the weeds, in order to frighten the 

 fish into the net. Perch and dog-fish are the principal fish taken in this 

 manner, but a few pickerel, black bass and rock bass, are also taken. 

 When a strong north wind prevails for several days the lake water grad- 

 ually forces the river water back, and sometimes the lake water extends 

 up the river 12 miles from its mouth. The waters are so entirely differ- 

 ent in color and temperature that they can be recognized at once. The 

 lake water has a greenish tint and is much colder, while the river water 

 has a dark-brownish color and is quite warm. As the lake water grad- 

 ually ascends the channel the river fish retreat, and in a day or two lake 

 fish take their places. When the wind stops blowing the lake water 

 gradually flows back, the lake fish going with it, and the river fish re- 

 turn. This is noticed by every one who fishes with hook and line in the 

 river within a few miles of the mouth. When there is a strong north 

 wind and the water in the river is a pale-greenish color the perch taken 

 are all of the white variety, only found in the lake water, called lake 

 perch ; but if the wind is in any other direction the river water is dark- 

 brownish, and only the dark -yellow variety, found only in the river, 

 called river perch, are caught. The only connection between Calumet 



