258 SUCKERS, CARP, AND MINNOWS 



whom clear streams and good fishes are only long-distance 

 memories, the sucker, carp and bull-head are eaten with 

 real relish, and a feeling of thankfulness that they are no 

 worse. And, after all, men who can eat musky squirrels, and 

 call them "game," ought to be pleased with suckers and carp. 



The Common Sucker,^ Brook or White Sucker, is 

 qualified to represent a large section of this Family. In the 

 home of this fish, acquaintance with it nearly always begins 

 in the month of June, when, if ever, come perfect days, and 

 the annual spring "run" of Suckers, up river and creek to 

 their spawning-beds, brings them prominently into notice. 



I remember one wildly hilarious day of boyhood, when a 

 great run of Suckers came up Eagle Creek, Indiana, from the 

 Ohio, via White River. 



Now, Eagle Creek is a very beautiful stream, flowing over 

 a fine bed of clear gravel and sand. Its waters are as clear 

 as the sea, and the big sycamores that reach their long white 

 arms across them are truly grand. All the young men and 

 small boys turned out en masse, and rushed to a shallow, rock- 

 bound channel above a big "drift." Each able-bodied 

 "angler" was armed with a snare of soft brass wire loaded 

 with enough lead to kill an elephant, and a pole that would 

 have driven a real angler to a madhouse. 



The Suckers moved about restlessly in the swift current, 

 and occasionally paused, head up-stream. That was the 

 snarer's only opportunity, for the fish refused all baits. 

 The heavily loaded snare was set as a hoop five inches in 

 diameter, gently lowered ahead of the fish, and with a very 



^ Ca-fos'to-mus com'mer-son-i. 



