130 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



beside shelving rocks or banks in clear lakes, 

 from whence he darts open-mouthed upon the 

 luckless fish that approaches his lair. The num- 

 ber of fishes swallowed by a mascalonge during a 

 single summer is almost incredible ; and they are 

 not minnows and small fry alone, such as are 

 devoured by other predaceous fishes, but such as 

 are old and large enough to reproduce their kind. 

 It is fortunate that the mascalonge is compara- 

 tively a rare fish. As it is now being artificially 

 propagated in some states, great care and judgment 

 should be exercised as to the waters planted, so as 

 not to jeopardize other and better game-fishes. 



It spawns early in the spring and in very shal- 

 low water, where most of the eggs are devoured 

 by frogs, turtles, fishes, and water fowl a wise 

 provision of nature when it is considered that 

 the female deposits from one hundred thousand 

 to three hundred thousand eggs. The eggs are 

 quite small, about ten or twelve to an inch, and 

 hatch in about two weeks. The mascalonge is 

 the most valuable food-fish of its family, and is 

 pronounced by some as being really excellent; 

 but I consider it much inferior to the whitefish, 

 lake-trout, pike-perch, black-bass, or brook-trout. 

 While possessing no especial flavor, its flesh is 



