862 



THE CISCO OF GENEVA LAKE. 



A friend writes as follows : " The length of our lake is 

 nine miles, average width three-quarters of a mile. There 

 are no rocks, neither high banks, however, sufficiently elevated 

 to prevent marshy grounds ; the water, which is said to be 

 the clearest in the State, is supplied wholly by springs, one 

 of which, located at the head of the lake, furnishes water- 

 power for a flouring-mill. We have, in addition to the Cisco, 

 pickerel, rock basse, black basse, and perch. The cisco 

 averages about eight inches in length ; in breadth, one and 

 a quarter inch, and weighs from one-quarter to three-quarters 

 of a pound. Its color, as near as I can describe it, is of a 

 bluish tinge on the back and sides ; the belly is silver-white ; 

 the scales are very small. 



" The time for cisco-fishing is from about the 1st to the 

 20th of June, varying with the season. They are seldom or 

 never caught more than ten rods from the shore ; however, it 

 has been the case in fishing through the ice that occasionally 

 some have been caught ; this being a very rare exception. 



" Parties angling for the cisco station themselves on the 

 shore in line, as the fish go in schools, and, starting from a 

 point, usually follow the shore. The best time of day for 

 taking them is about four or five o'clock in the morning, 

 or at about sundown. They are caught on all parts of the 

 lake, and, when hooked, extreme caution must be used, as 

 their jaws are very tender. The fly, which is called the 

 ' cisco-fly,' is first seen about the time the cisco begins to 

 run, which indicates the time in which to prepare for fishing. 

 The fly is not the only bait used ; they will often bite at a 

 red string attached to a hook.'' 



After their term for fly-feeding is over they return to the 

 deep parts of the lake, and are seen no more until the next 

 year. This fish is entirely distinct from the cisco of Lake 



