390 Rooscz'cit Wild Life Annals 



Embody ('15, p. zzy) gives the following notes on the average lengths of 

 pickerel, very probably this species : 5 months, 4-5 inches ; 1 year, 6-7 inches ; 

 2 years, 10-12 inches. Kendall ('18, p. 581), in writing of Maine waters, says 

 the young grow comparatively rapidly l>ut do not reach a length of much over 

 2 or 3 inches the first season. 



Habitat. At Oneida Lake we found Chain Pickerel in summer abundant in 

 shallow water where there was a good cover of aquatic vegetation (Figs. 205, 

 207). By placing the trammel net on the lakeward side of a patch of cat-tails, 

 pond-lilies, pond weeds or other plants growing in a few feet of water, and then 

 disturbing the area with poles or oars we frequently caught several of these fish. 



Pickerel are frequently taken at Oneida Lake by ice fishermen, and, according 

 to testimony, most often in a few feet of water close to shore. It is said that 

 they come to the shallows chiefly in late winter or early spring, shortly before 

 the ice leaves, but in January, 1921, members of the Anglers Association of 

 Onondaga County reported pickerel or pike being taken in Oneida Lake in water 

 only a few inches deep, and very close to shore. The fish also frequents the 

 deeper waters of the lake. On October 3, 1920, a large one, 20 inches long 

 (Coll. No. 4200), was taken in 10 feet of water at Maple Bay, by trap net, and 

 one was caught in 12^/2 feet of water north of Poddygut shoals. 



Kendall ('17, p. 26) says; "The usual haunts of the pickerel are weedy 

 streams and bays or coves of lakes. In some lakes small and medium sized 

 pickerel occur in the shallow coves, where they lurk under lily pads or amongst 

 the rushes and sedges. Often larger fish occur along rocky shores contiguous to 

 deep water, especially if there are fallen trees, brush, or boulders to afford con- 

 cealment. It has, also, been caught on the rocky shoals of an open lake. 



" In some streams, while it is most abundant in the sluggish, dead waters 

 where aquatic \ei^rt;iti()ii is profuse, it is not infrequently found well up in 

 quicker water if the character of the shores or growth there provides concealment." 

 He notes ('13, p. 23) that in winter they congregate in deeper water, and the 

 young pickerel remain in shallow water until of considerable size. 



Distribution Records. In shallow water (under 3 feet in depth) we collected 

 the following with trammel nets: No. 469, East Potter Bay; No. 485, Fairchild 

 Bay; Nos. 489 and 492, Three Mile Bay: ^o. 512, Fish Creek; No. 513, Oneida 

 Creek; No. 542, Johnson's Bay; No. 561, Poddygut Bay; No. 567, Big Bay Creek. 



The following were taken with minnow seines: No. 81, John.son's Bay Ditch; 

 No. 483, Fairchild Bay; No. 347, Chittenango Creek; No. 568, Big Bay; No. 569, 

 Willow Point; Nos. 573 and ^j-. Three Mile Bay; No. 605, East Skyw's Bay; 

 No. 606, Shaw's Bay; No. i-i-'. I-'rederick Creek; No. 132. .Shepherd Point; 

 No. 441, Taft Bay; No. 490, Three Mile P.ay ; No. 310. Upi>er .Si.uth Bay: No. 

 553, West Vienna ; No. 603, Fairchild Bay. 



The following were collected in moderately deep water (3-8 feet) : No. 311, 

 Oneida Creek; No. 4200, Maple Bay; No. 122, Shaw's Bay; No. 130, P.ig Bay; 

 also the Brewerton market collection, Nos. 360 and 486. 



The following were collected by Pratt and Baker in nudium depth (3-10 

 feet) : Nos. 1207, 1264, Dry Land Point; No. 1247, Muskrat I'.ay. Xn. 1233 ^^-^s 

 caught in Poddygut Bay shoals in \2]A feet of water: No. 133, fnniid dead in 

 Big Bay. 



