THE PERCH & PERCH FISHING 



PERCA FLUVIATJLIS 

 German, Der Barsch; French, Perche 



By R. B. MARSTON 



ERGH spawn in pairs between the end of March and the be- 

 Iginning of May; later in cold than in mild seasons. The eggs, 

 about the size of millet seed, are joined together like little pearls 

 on a thread, and this chain is intertwined and enveloped in a deli- 

 cate film in such a way that a band of perch spawn hanging on 

 the water weeds or roots under water, looks like a delicate piece 

 of muslin. Even a half-pound perch may have from two to three hundred 

 thousand eggs. As I mentioned before, at the Great International Fisheries 

 Exhibition of London in 1883 I read a paper describing a very simple 

 system of perch cultivation by means of the Lund hatching box, which 

 has been in use in Sweden for generations — the perch there being justly 

 valued as a good and nutritious fish. It is more than thirty years since 

 my old friend, Mr William Senior, so long the angling editor, and after- 

 wards editor in chief, of " The Field," impressed upon me that two of our 

 so-called coarse fish, viz., the perch and the tench, from good wholesome 

 waters, and properly cooked, are not merely eatable, but very good eating. 

 But to return to the Lund perch hatching box. It is really nothing but a 

 large frame like a cucumber frame which has holes bored in the sides. It 

 is put into a lake at some shallow place where you can be sure the water 

 will not wash over it or wash it away — a few pea sticks or fir branches 

 are placed inside, then one or two pairs of mature perch are put in, and 

 after they have spawned are caught with a landing net and put into the 

 lake or wherever you want to keep them. 



It will be seen it is merely protecting natural spawning, as swans, ducks, 

 and other water birds do great destruction among unprotected spawn. 

 For stocking other waters the bands of perch spawn can be carefully lifted 

 into carriers and transferred to where required. In this way the spawn of 

 pike, perch, and other fish has often been carried by water birds from 

 one water to another — especially when it is spawn which adheres to 

 weeds, stones, bushes, etc. It is difficult to imagine that birds could 

 carry salmon or trout eggs, because they are distinct, non-adhesive, 

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