THE GAME FISHES OP THE WOELD 



taken, so have a sense of proprietorship. In my piirsTiit of the 

 fish I used an eight- and ten-ounce rod, number E line, a multiply- 

 ing reel and a large one-hook spoon (spinner). The small fish 

 :fight like a pickerel, and I thought the fish I took was one until I 

 saw its beautiful spots ; but the larger fish make a splendid play. 

 T saw a muscallunge on a friend's line leap into the air and 

 shake its jaws, make fine runs in long lines, diving into the deeps, 

 swimming around, bearing off Mke a Mexican barracuda ; indeed 

 the muscallunge recalls this fish or specimens I have taken. 

 When hooked the boatman should puU for deep water, as, like 

 the yellowtail, it will rush for the weed and break the Hne. The 

 iish is a menace, due to its sharp teeth, and should be gaffed care- 

 fully and killed quickly. They are often shot when gaffed, before 

 being taken into the boat. 



There is a second species of muscallunge, Esox oMensis, 

 found in the Ohio Basin and Lake Chautauqua, Mahoning Eiver, 

 the Ohio Eiver, Evansville and Conneaut Lake. It is a fish of 

 great value in commerce as well as in sport, and the State of Ifew 

 Tork has propagated it with notable success. 



This species is taken with a spoon and a live minnow. The 

 iormer method is very successful in September ; after this the live 

 minnow is the most satisfactory bait. Stni another muscallunge is 

 the Esox immaculatus, confined to Eagle Lake and various small 

 bodies of water in the northern portions of the States of Wisconsin 

 ^nd Minnesota. It is easily recognized as it has no spots ; in 

 their place are ' vague, dark cross shades.' 



I have seen an extraordinary-looking pike from a lake in 

 ■Canada. I have never visited it, merely passing it on the portage 

 between two lakes, but one day I met two men with a string 

 of the fish which I at first thought were muscallunge ; but they 

 had an extraordinary green colour, literally as green as grass, 

 but more metallic. The men told me they would bite as fast 

 as the spinner was thrown out, and the fish were so large that 

 they soon lost all their tackle. Taking these fishes affords in 

 America a singular combination of sylvan scenes, delightful lakes 

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