GREAT LAKES COREGONIDS 



551 



brothers, of Rogers, say that they have tried nets at Presque Isle for eight years 

 but never yet have got pilot in them. In the area between Middle Island and 

 Scarecrow Island more pilot are caught than from all the rest of the lake. South 

 of the latter point and in the Saginaw Bay region the fish are rarer again, although 

 about 1902, according to Oscar Hurkett, of Harbor Beach, a heavy run entered 

 the bay. At the south end of the lake between Harbor Beach and Port Huron the 

 species has been, or still is, common. At the former port there has been a marked 

 decrease in its numbers in recent years. 



I have collected specimens from many ports on the lake, most of them casual 

 inclusions with the catches of other species. The data for these are given in Table 98. 

 They are shown platted on the chart in Figure 5. 



METHOD OF CAPTURE 



As in Lake Michigan, the pilot will not follow a lead readily, and consequently 

 it is not taken commonly in the pound or trap nets. In less than 30 fathoms gill 

 nets of 2% or 3 inch mesh usually are employed to capture it. At some ports these 

 nets are used for herring, also, and are set most often in the fall. 



SEASONAL MOVEMENTS 



The pilot moves in and off shore like the other shallow-water coregonids. Few 

 nets suitable for pilot are used in spring, and therefore it is not known when the fish 

 leave the shoals. 



Data on occurrence in the fall and spring.— These records are from American 

 waters only. At Cheboygan (according to Louis Peets) and at Middle Island 

 (according to the records of the Alpena and Rogers boats) the schools begin moving 

 into 3 to 5 fathoms about the middle of October on honeycomb rock and gravel. 

 During November the run is at its height. In the spring the Alpena tugs again put 

 their nets on these grounds when navigation opens about April 1. They sometimes 

 get a few lifts of pilot. Bert Andrews, of Port Huron, informs me the pilot came 

 inshore 10 to 12 miles north of Port Huron in 4 fathoms on November 1, 1913. On 

 the 9th and thereafter 4 tons or more were taken in a single lift in 7 to 8 fathoms. 

 The fish gradually retreated northward toward the last of the month. Few are 

 found on these grounds in the spring. 



Data on occurrence in summer. — The nets used for other fish in summer are not 

 suitable for pilot, and therefore there are few data on summer occurrence. The 

 pilot are probably at no time in deep water. None ever are taken in the 2^-inch 

 chub nets in 35 to 50 fathoms off Cheboygan; none were taken in the box of 2%-inch 

 nets lifted off Alpena from 30 fathoms with a trout gang on September 19, 1917, 

 nor have any ever been reported at any season from the lj^-inch bait nets set at 

 30 fathoms either at Alpena or Harbor Beach. The identity of the fish is so unmis- 

 takable that no fishermen would fail to recognize it when taken. Frank Hebert tells 

 me that off Nine-Mile Point during the first week in September, 1917, a gang of 2%- 

 inch nets set in 17 to 20 fathoms got 500 pounds of pilot four nights out. On Sep- 

 tember 2, 1917, I found pilot in the stomachs of trout caught in 20 fathoms. This 

 observation alone has little value in fixing the occurrence of the fish, as there is 

 94995—29 17 



