FISHERIES AT CHICAGO AND VICINITY. 799 



Before the current of the Chicago River was turned in this direction, 

 some seining was done and dip-nets were used. 



A species of minnow is said to spawn in great abundance at the 

 mouth of a creek emptying into the Desplaines just north of Joliet, and 

 when the muddy water flows over the spawn it is destroyed. 



There are no professional fishermen at Joliet. A few men occasion- 

 ally spending a short time fishing for market during si)ring and fall. 

 Formerly they fished in the Desplaines, but at present only in the Kan- 

 kakee above the mouth of the former river. 



Around Joliet Lake, 3 miles southwest of Joliet, there are a number 

 of springs ; during the cold weather in the winter the fish of the lake 

 congregate in the water about these springs. 



People from the town and surrounding country go there and catch 

 anj' number desired, as the openings in the ice caused by the warmer 

 water of the springs are literally tilled with fish of all the species found 

 in the lake, the species here being the same as in the river. 



The fish obtained in this lake are not generally considered edible. 

 Eels have always been rare in the rivers in this vicinity, only about a 

 dozen being taken yearly. 



A party who has fished at Joliet upwards of twenty years states that 

 thirteen years ago a large number of sheep-head {Haploidonotus grun- 

 niens), were taken in the spring and that none have been known to oc- 

 cur since. 



Since the water of the river has been impure none of the fishes taken 

 in the Desplaines and its tributaries are considered good for food, and 

 the local demand for fresh fish is mostly supplied from Chicago, a small 

 portion coming from the Kankakee River several miles above its junc- 

 tion with the Desplaines. 



C. — LIST OF SPECIES IN THE ILLINOIS EIVER IN THE VICINITY OF 



PEORIA. 



The following imperfect list of species is copied from the History of 

 Peoria by C. Ballance : 



As several species are mentioned not recorded in the Kankakee or 

 Desplaines, I here insert the list : Perca flavescens, yellow perch ; Cen- 

 trarchus fasciatus, black bass ; Pomotis vulgaris, sun-fish ; Pimcelodus catus, 

 cat-fish ', Lenciscus deplema, horned dace ; Catostomus tuberculatus. warted 

 sucker; Catostomus duquesnii, red-hovse ; jE/sox- estor, pike 5 Lepidosteus, 

 gar; Anguilla lutea, eel : Adpenser, sturgeon; Poly odon folium, shovel, 

 fish, and several specimens not identified. 



An exploration of the various streams and lakes in this State will 

 without doubt reveal many species not anticipated, and probably a num, 

 ber new to science. 



From the effect of the Chicago Eiver water upon the fishes in the 

 streams through which it passes before reaching the Mississippi River- 

 and the effect of the distillery on the water and fishes in the Little Cal- 



