62 Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 



They multiplied so rapidly that in a very few years they swarmed in 

 the deeper waters and became one of the staple food fishes of the Sus- 

 quehanna. Their solid, heavy meat, richer even in flavor than the 

 striped bass, sometimes called the rockfish, caused the people to con- 

 sider them even superior to the shad, and notwithstanding their number 

 they commanded a much higher price. 



They were caught in seines, on hooks and lines, and were the sport to 

 the gigger at night. Nescopeck Falls, directly opposite Berwick, near 

 where the Nescopeck creek empties into the river, was a noted place for 

 "salmon" fishing with hook and line. Men standing on the shore with 

 long poles and lines would often, in drawing out the fish, lodge them in 

 the branches of the trees, giving them the appearance of salmon-produc- 

 ing trees. The present generation fish for them by two methods, by 

 steel fishing with minnows and by trolling. In angling by the first 

 named manner, live minnows are used in preference to all other baits, 

 particularly such as are more or less transparent and with silvery sides, 

 as the fall-fish or dace, the corporal roach, the red fin and the gudgeon. 

 When trolling, the favorite method between Columbia and Harrisburg, 

 a small lamprey eel is usually attached to the spoon in place of the 

 feathers, sunk very deep, near a rocked ledge and drawn through the 

 water much more slowly than when after other species of fish. When a 

 pike-perch first strikes, it is not a strong, vicious try that is felt, such as 

 other members of his family give, but a steady pull such as might be 

 made by a man hauling in a line with his feet braced. This peculiarity 

 often leads the angler to imagine for a time that his hook is fast on a 

 log. But when the fish is brought near the surface it abandons the sul- 

 len hang-back policy and begins a vigorous fight for its life, afi'ording 

 the angler more than fair sport. It is a peculiarity of many of the boat- 

 men in this section, that when a fish is struck he will begin rowing as 

 endeavoring to escape from an enemy, and unless stopped very quickly 

 will succeed in drowning the pike-perch, before the angler has had a 

 chance to extract any sport from his catch. This curious habit is due, 

 it is said, from their own habit when fishing to get their prey out of the 

 water as speedily as possible. 



Besides the name of Susquehanna salmon, the pike-perch is also known 

 as the "Jack salmon," though the fish is not related in any way to the 

 salmon tribe, but belongs to the perch tribe family. 



In the report of the Pennsylvania Fish Commissioners for 1892, is 

 found the following excellent account of this valuable food fish : 



"The pike-perch or wall-eyed pike inhabits the Great Lake i-egionand 

 extends northward into British America, where it has been recorded as 

 far as fifty-eight degi-ees north by Dr. Kichardson. It ranges south in 

 the Mississippi valley to Arkansas, and in Atlantic streams to Georgia. 

 This species is said to reach a weight of fifty pounds," though such are 

 rarely found. The largest specimen from the Pennsylvania rivers was 



