440 Roosevelt Wild Life Annals 



Perch were abundant and were biting on worms, but without success. The bait 

 that is most generally successful is the earthworm or "fishworm," with reference 

 especially to the medium-sized Perch, those about 8 to lo in. long. For catching 

 the much larger Perch of our lakes that dwell in water 20 to 30 feet deep, minnows 

 are commonly used. Hankinson has been familiar with some lakes in Michigan 

 where these larger fish were abundant but were never successfully taken with worm 

 bait. They were caught only by using minnows in deep fishing. The capture of 

 numbers of these large Perch by angling usually requires skill, and sometimes 

 special equipment and experimentation with baits. In some regions Perch are 

 taken with fly or spoon hook, as at Lake Maxinkuckee (Evermann and Clark, 

 '20, p. 425) ; and grasshoppers and grub worms are sometimes used with success 

 (Jordan and Evermann, '03, p. 366). Forbes and Richardson ('09, p. 278) 

 mention pieces of mussel as good bait, and Kendall ('24, p. 308) found frogs 

 suitable. In Oneida Lake various baits are used. Besides worms, dragonfly 

 nymphs — locally called "bass bugs" — make a very successful bait and give the 

 Perch fisherman a chance at the same time to get l)lack bass, which also take this 

 bait. Mr. C. E. Hunter recommends crickets. When Mayflies were abundant, 

 on July I, 1916, we knew of six Perch that were caught with such bait, in Oneida 

 Lake. In a mill pond at Hillsdale, Michigan, where Perch were once numerous 

 and seemed very hungry. Hankinson found them at times so blindly attracted by 

 the tackle that they seemed to lose all power of discrimination and would grab 

 any small object thrown to them. ( )n such occasions he has often taken Perch 

 with the unbaited hook. 



The tackle used for Perch is of many kinds. In the Great Lakes. Perch are 

 commonly caught by simple lines with or without sinkers or floats, and held from 

 boats or piers. Common string, thread, wrapping twine and fish lines of all kinds 

 may lie used when the fish are biting well. Forbes and Richardson ("oq. p. 278) 

 relate an experiment made at South Chicago by a laboratory assistant. He used a 

 piece of lath for pole, a line of cotton twine, a small lindk, and a bit of ])ork for 

 his bait. The first Perch caught with this was cut up and used as bait thereafter. 

 Within an hour he had caught 75 more. Goode ('03, p. 7) says that the simplest 

 way to catch Perch is with a boy's standard outfit : a pole, a stout line, a large 

 float, heavy sinker, and a worm or minnow for bait. This he considers efl^ective 

 ■when the water is muddy and the Perch are numerous and liungry. but "for wary 

 fish in clearer water more delicate tackle is necessary. The line should be fine, 

 and a simple reel may be used ; the float should be small and well lialanced. and 

 the shot used for sinkers only heavy enough to keep the float steady. The float 

 should be adjusted so that the bait may be suspended about a foot from the bottom, 

 and a gentle motion upwards and downwards may advantageously be employed." 



There is considerable sport catching Perch through the ice in winter (see 

 Figures 233 and 234). Only a small hole six inches or so in width need be made, 

 and a line with bait let down to near the bottom. Tip-ups are sometimes em])loyed. 

 In February, 1921, Hankinson visited Oneida Lake to make observations on ice 

 fishing. The season seemed to be an unusually favorable one, and according to a 

 Syracuse paper, "The 1920-21 ice fishing season has been a record breaker in the 

 annals of Oneida Lake fishing." S])ecial trolley cars were then run and often 



