VALUE OF COMMON FISH. 63 



ments of their hooks and lines, and also keep their 

 hook properly sharpened, and well baited. A com- 

 mon cane pole, such as can be purchased for a small 

 sum, will be found equally as serviceable as a high- 

 priced, split bamboo, jointed rod. These fish also 

 inhabit large rivers, lakes and bays, which are ac- 

 cessible to the millions. They are also found in the 

 canals, to which thousands resort in summer for the 

 capture of a mess of fish. In such waters as these, 

 the finer grades of fish cannot live and thrive. There- 

 fore the ordinary bull-head, with his great powers of 

 endurance, is a welcome and valuable inhabitant of 

 this class of waters. The yellow perch, with its 

 white, flaky flesh, when properly cooked, is the equal 

 of any common fish in the country. I have made 

 many a good meal on the usually underrated sucker 

 and mullet. 



A great many harsh things are said against the 

 pickerel, but it is a good fish, and a worthy inhabit- 

 ant of the kind of water in which it is found. It is 

 not a suitable companion for the trout, nor is there a 

 sufficiency of food for it in trout waters, but there is 

 plenty in our large lakes, rivers and bays, and many 

 a day's sport have I had pickerel fishing. As a 

 table-fish, the pickerel is not, in my opinion, equal to 

 the yellow perch or bull-head, but when properly 

 prepared it is very palatable. While pickerel do 

 not possess the game qualities of the muscalonge, 

 still in some waters I have found them to have con- 

 siderable " fight," and one of eight or ten pounds 

 weight affords both sport and an exercise of skill to 

 land. 



Who has not seen a row of bare-footed urchins 



