THE WALL-EYED PIKE. 



BY A. A. MOSHER. 



I 



r|">HE Wall-eyed Pike or Pike-Perch, so-called, belongs to 

 the Acanthopherous species bearing, as the name signifies, 

 spines. These fish have various names, in various locali- 

 ties. In the North-west, and along the Ohio and Tennesee 

 rivers, they are, for some unknown reason, called Salmon, and 

 many of those who thus misname them will insist, most 

 tenaciously, that they are Salmon, and no amount of argu- 

 ment will convince them to the contrary. This reminds me 

 of the "Trout" in the Southern states that are, as every well- 

 informed angler knows, Black Bass. 



The Wall-eyed Pike is gregarious, nearly always running 

 together, in schools of greater or less numbers, and when 

 fishing for them, if you get one Wall-eye you will generally 

 get more. 



They are found in most Northern waters, and in some are 

 very numerous; are eager biters, and not particular as to 

 bait, taking almost anything that is offered. They spawn in 

 spring on the cobble-stones or pebbles that line the shores 

 of the lakes or streams. 



They appear in large schools at this time, the bottom 

 frequently being covered by them. Their eggs are very 

 glutinous stick fast to anything they touch, and do not 

 become detached (unless by violence) till hatched out. There 

 are, in some of our lakes and rivers, some large specimens 



381 



