PIKE, PICKEREL, MUSKELLUNGE, PIKE-PERCH. 161 



Regarding the size of this fish it is said that some have 

 been captured that weighed as much as 100 pounds, but those 

 over forty pounds are very rare and the usual catch weighs 

 from fifteen to thirty pounds. Nevertheless, the musky 

 angler is always on the lookout for the fifty pound fish. 



This fish is found throughout the Great Lake region, 

 upper Wisconsin and the adjoining parts of Canada and the 

 St. Lawrence. It is said that they range southward into 

 Tennessee, but if so they are known locally as the pike. It is 

 in the lakes of northern Wisconsin that they appear to be 

 most numerous. 



As before said, there is apt to be confusion regarding 

 the identity of pike, pickerel and muskellunge. But when the 

 fish are placed side by side it will be noted that a differ- 

 ence exists. There is a difference in the shape of the body, 

 the musky being deeper in the belly, and there is a difference 

 in the spots, the muskellunge having small black spots on 

 a lighter ground while the pike has larger light spots on the 

 dark ground, but there is such a difference in the markings 

 and they are sometimes so indistinct that it is best to look 

 for a more definite distinction. By comparing a pickerel, 

 pike, and muskellunge it will be found that the pickerel has 

 both cheeks and gill covers completely scaled; the pike has 

 scales on the cheek and the upper half only of the gill covers ; 

 and the muskellunge has only the upper half of both cheeks 

 and gill covers scaled. This is 'the surest means of iden- 

 tification. 



Ordinarily the fish will be found in water from five to 

 twelve feet deep, near the weeds, water lilies and grass 

 that grow in the water. He is solitary in his habits and 

 haunts the same place daily as a rule. He feeds both in 

 morning and evening but the best time to fish is in the 

 evening, from the middle of the afternoon until dark. 



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