PICKEREL. 171 



doubt they ascend the rapids of that mighty river, being 

 *ound in the eddies ; but they prefer quiet water, where 

 they can lurk among the weeds, watching stealthily for 

 their prey, or bask near the surface in the warm summer 

 sun. Both mascallonge and pickerel abound in the innu- 

 merable lakes of Lower Canada, and are so abundant in 

 addition to being almost tasteless, as to be unsalable for 

 food. 



In other waters pickerel are found in the summer 

 months among the lily-pads, often in water scarcely deep 

 enough to cover, their backs. The federation pike I have 

 never taken, except in some of the remote ponds of the 

 wild woods of Cape Cod, near Sandwich and Wareham, 

 especially in the Little Herring Pond. And although at 

 the time I had no knowledge of the scientific distinctions 

 of fish, I at once recognized the description which I saw 

 for the first time afterward, but had often sought in vain 

 among our works on ichthyology. All the pickerel 

 family are readily distinguishable by their having but 

 one dorsal, and that opposite the anal fin and near the 

 tail, and the sportsman acquainted with one will readily 

 recognize all the tribe. 



There are many ways of capturing this fish, and he is 

 not the least particular if he is offered anything that has 

 the semblance of food. He may be trolled for with dead 

 bait, generally a minnow, or better, a yellow perch, on a 

 gang of hooks, or fished for with a live bait and a float, 

 and he will readily take a frog, provided the latter shall 

 not, as described in the " Angler's Miseries," have the 

 intelligence to creep out upon a stone and watch the 

 fisherman, while the latter watches his float; but the 



