American Fisheries Society. 91 



muskellungv in our waters, and it is mucli to be regretted tliat 

 til is work was not l)egnn several years ago. 



The artitieial propagation of mnskellunge was first taken up 

 l)y the Fish Commission of the state of New York some twelve 

 years since, and in ISDl that state made tlie first successful 

 hatch of this species, planting over 1,000,000 fry. Since that 

 time the Fish Commission of Xew York has planted several 

 millions of fry of this species in Chautauqua Lake and other 

 waters with unqualified success. 



The Commissioners of Fisheries of Wisconsin began the prO' 

 ])agation of mnskellunge during" the spring of 1899 in connec- 

 tion with tlu' work of collecting wall-eyed pike ova; and we be- 

 lieve we arc now in a fair way to successfully hatch and ])lant 

 the fry of this fish in large nmnliers. 



The chief difficulty we encountered in this work was to catch 

 tlu' fish on the eve of spawning ; as we found that the large fish 

 would not stand confinement. In the beginning we could not 

 get a sutficient number of ripe male fish. We tried holding the 

 fish in pens, expecting that both the male and female thus con- 

 fined would ripen in a few days, but in this we were dis- 

 appointed. 



liast year we caught the fish in pound and fyke nets and con- 

 fined them to a large dummy or pocket, 39x22 feet, 10 feet deep. 

 We were quite sure that we could hold the fish in this way until 

 the ovaries ripened, but we were again disappointed ; as we found 

 the ova would cake in the fish and we were obliged to liberate 

 them without securing the eggs we expected. 



During the spawning season just past we made a large pen in 

 a thoroughfare between two lakes, in a current of flowing water, 

 in which we held the unripe fish. We found this pen a great 

 improvement over the dummy for this purpose. The unripe fish 

 placed in the pen matured the ova in due time and we were en- 

 abled to take spawai and milt from most of the fish secured. 

 After spawning, the fish were returned to the water alive. 



If you are searching for the spawning beds of mnskellunge 

 you should look where the logs, stumps and drift wood are the 

 thickest. There you will find them, in season, attending to their 

 procreative duties. They ap})roach their spawning grounds in 

 pairs and spawn in shallow water or flowage where dead limbs, 



