SS6 
[Oct. 28, 1905. 
FOREST, AND STREAM. 
Pickerel f Fishing in Pennsylvanii 
M juntain Lakes. 
Thousands of: years ago a vast sheet of ice came down 
from the; north and swept into Pennsylvania, burying 
nearly the whole northern half to a depth, it is believed, 
from four : to'iive milesj Ancient valleys of great size 
were blottisd out;: huge mountains had their caps de- 
stroyed, and were ground into small hills; new valleys 
were created, and new mountains built. Streams were 
diverted from their natural course and new channels 
cut out. : . 
i his terrific convulsion of nature was particularly 
severe in northeastern Pennsylvania, in the section now 
known as Wayne, Susquehanna, Pike, Monroe, Lu- 
zerne, _ Lackawanna and Wyoming counties. To-day 
there is scarcely a vestige of the ancient land visible. 
Most of the hills and mountains which thickl}^ dot the 
entire area of the counties named are modern excres- 
cences, built by the tremendous force of the huge 
mer-de-glace, which swept into Pennsylvania during 
what is knc>wn as the Ice Age. 
Huge tongues of ice, or properly speaking, glaciers, 
left long ridges of loose rocks, sometimes two and 
three hundred feet high, at their discharging points. 
These ridges or terminal moraines were sometimes 
thrown across a valley, down which a stream of water 
flowed, and the dams thus built by nature resulted in 
natural lakes of various sizes. In other instances, after 
the Ice Age passed away and the rocks comprising 
many of the moraines settled in places, forming depres- 
sions in their sides, some from ninety to one hundred or 
more feet in depth. Water from higher levels trickled 
through and bubbled up in the form of springs, and 
there was created another form of natural lakes called 
kettle holes. 
Kettle hole lakes are more, enduring than lakes formed 
by the damming of a stream. The latter are usually 
shallow and rapidly filled by mud carried by the in- 
flowing streams, while the former are more enduring 
since there are no deposits save from the surrounding 
shores. In the eight or ten northeastern counties of 
Pennsylvania there are to-day at least five hundred lakes 
from fifty to four hundred acres each. A few centuries 
ago there were probably three times that many; most 
of them were inlet lakes, and some were as large nearly 
as Lake George in New York. State. The number has 
been reduced through their having been filled up by the 
washings from the inlet streams and neighboring hills, 
and others are disappearing. 
Water birds eagerly sought these sun-kissed moun- 
tain liquid gems and carried with them on their feath- 
ers and feet' the eggs of many fishes, and so the stock- 
ing of the lakes began. Later, Indians brought from 
New York and elsewhere pickerel and other food fishes 
and thus added to the stock. Hence-, in time the 
mountain lakes of northeastern Pennsvlvania became 
literally alive with pickerel, catfish, yellow perch and 
roach (commonly called shiners). AlsO' the ubiqui- 
tous eel, which, unaided, wiggled its way up mountain 
streams and through wet grass to the lakes. 
Pennsylvania’s mountain lakes became a paradise 
when anglers appeared. Unfortunately, fish hogs found 
them likewise ideal for their unholy purpose. They 
journeyed into the wilderness to the mountain lakes 
during the summer, carrying with them set lines, gill 
nets, seines and other ■ diabolically ingenious methods 
for destroying fish, and bore away with them countless 
spoil. When winter came and the lakes became ice- 
bound, they returned, and cutting thousands of holes 
through the ice and tty means of tip-ups caught thou- 
sands more pickerel and called it sport. They hied 
them rejoicing to the nearest town and sold the fish 
for sufficient to cover expenses, and then went home 
to boast of their prowess as mighty fishermen. 
Farmers, fathers and sons, living adjacent to the 
lakes, used much the same devices as the “fish hogs,” 
and under the more homely title of “fishin’ ” aided and 
abetted the “fish hogs” in their slaughter of the fish. 
For several years they were able to keep their pickle 
barrels a.nd .smoke houses full of pickerel for winter 
use. Hence it is not surprising that when the year 1900 
arrived fishing in many of the northeastern lakes of 
Pennsylvania during the summer was of a negative 
character. It was fair fishing only in the winter, when 
the pickerel which remained rushed to the bait dangled 
before them through holes cut in the ice. At this criti- 
cal point the State authorities interfered. Lax fish 
laws were repealed in favor of more stringent measures. 
The heavy hand of the law was laid on persons who 
used more than one tip-up. Set-lines and nets were 
prohibited in all the interior lakes, and better than all, 
the laws were reasonably enforced. Within five years 
the pickerel fishing in most of the mountain lakes of 
northeastern Pennsylvania has been restored almost 
to its pristine glory. 
There is a curious division of sentiment among fish- 
ermen in Pennsylvania reg-arding the; pickerel. Many 
anglers condeiqn it as an inferior game fish. On the 
other hand, there is' a large number of fishermen who 
care quite as much for pickerel fishing as black bass, 
and who regard the flesh as delicious eating. This last 
body of anglers' is increasing rapidly in numbers year 
by year along with a growing sentiment in favor of the 
State giving the greatest attention to indigenous rather 
than to introduced fishes. . 
Angling for pickerel in the mountain lakes or north- 
eastern Pennsylvania is .surrounded by all the superla- 
tive dharms which are demanded by the most exacting 
sportsman. At an average altitude of from 1,800 to 
2,000 feet above the level of the sea the air is pure and 
bracing. Nestled on. the side of an ancient moraine or 
in n shallow valley near the summit of modern mourn 
tains, the waters are surrounded by tree-clothed hills 
or mountain caps; the air is redolent with the resin of 
pines, _ or fragrance of fern and grass and flowers; 
there is the mighty, noisy stillness of the forest or the 
calm quiet of uT“;untain farm land; there are ' clear, 
pure, sparkling and also undefiled bodies of water, un'any 
thickly dotted with water lilies, with white petals and 
yellow crowns, with a delicate penetrating scent. 
Along the edges of the water lilies, six or eight feet 
distant, a fnan rows a boat in the early morning or late 
afternoon. Another man sits in the stern holding a stiff 
rod, from the tip of which, stretching away fifty to 
seventyyfive feet, is a long, dark-colored line. The boat 
is rowed slowly. The oars are dipped carefully and 
silently into the water. Presently crossing a small 
cove, there is a sudden stretching of the slightly bellied • 
line, followed instantly by a sharp, stern jerk on the rod, 
which doubles up to nearly a half circle. A cry from 
the fisherman, and the boatman instautly ceases row- 
ing, holds his oar steadily in the water and leans for- 
ward, eagerly watching tire fight which is now going 
on between the fisherman and the unseen object at the 
far end of the line. In a minute or two there is a sudden 
break in the water fifty to seventy-five feet away, and a 
long,^ thin,_ green-sided -fish, with white belly, leaps 
frantically in the air, curving himself like a bow as he 
descends again to the depths. Now reeling in, now giv- 
ing line, but always keeping the long, steady thread 
taut, the angler plays his fish for perhaps three or four 
minutes until, worn out with its struggles, the prey is 
reeled to the side of the boat, a landing net slipped 
deftly between the surface of the water, and a pickerel 
weighing anywhere from two to six pounds is lifted 
deftly aboard, where it lies quietly without a quiver of 
its fins, while the triumphant angler relieves from the 
fierce, sharp-toothed jaws, a tripod hook and a metallic 
spoon. The rowing is resumed, the spoon cast forth 
again, and the hunt for another victim begins. 
For perhaps five minutes the captured pickerel lies 
quietly as though reflecting. It does not appear by the 
fierce light which glows from its eyes, by the ugly curve 
of its jaws, that it realizes that it has been conquered. 
Angry surprise at the unwarranted insolence of any 
one daring to disturb him in its natural element, seems 
to be a dominant thought. Presently a hot anger seems 
to sweep across the fish, the fins begin to work con- 
vailsively, the jaws begin to snap and the eyes take on 
a fiercer light. Quick undulations stir the body, and 
the fish begins to leap about the boat from side to 
side and from end to end, until the angler and the boat- 
man, filled with excitement and apprehension lest 
they lose their prey, hold in their respective occu- 
pations and give themselves up to subduing their violent • 
victim. One or the other, perchance, in the struggle 
which ensues gets his fingers too near the snapping 
jaws, then a sharp howl of pain rends the quiet air, and 
the unlucky man a moment later may be seen to be 
painfully nursing and sucking a badly lacerated and 
bleeding finger. Hence it is that the really, careful 
angler who knows all about the pickerel will, as soon 
as the creature is boated, either kill it or immediately 
put it away in the cool recess to be found under, the 
stern seat. 
One objection which has been urged against the 
pickerel, and which has caused it to be designated as an 
inferior game fish, is the fact of this terrible uproar 
which it creates some time after it has been boated. It 
has been stated time and time again that the pickerel 
makes a harder fight after it has been placed in the 
basket or thrown to the bottom of the boat than it did 
upon the line while in the water. But such a charge is 
never made by a man who has had his rod broken or 
line parted by the first wild rush of a five or six pound 
pickerel. It is he who affirms strenuously and with 
picturesque language that of all the fish which swim, 
the hardest fighter, the most dangerous fish to handle 
and most tender mouthed, is the chain pickerel of the 
Pennsylvania lakes. It is the rod-fisherman who uses 
a single hook, a float and small sinker and a live bait, 
who most loves the pickerel and who holds it in highest 
esteem as a game fish. He anchors off the lilypads, 
thrusts his hook beneath the dorsal fin of a four. or five- 
inch shiner or a three-inch yellow perch, casts it over- 
board; sets his rod and waits for a bite. 
His float or cork is from four to six feet above the 
bait; On this the fisherman’s eyes are intently fixed. 
Presently the float begins to wobble in a quickened 
manner, and then suddenly disappears beneath the 
surface. 
A nervous fisherman who knows the ways of pickerel 
and who smokes, will then, in spite of an almost Over- 
whelming desire to yank, seize not his .rod, but his 
pipe, fill it with tobacco, draw forth a match, strike 
it, light up, and begin to puff with sharp, quick in- 
drawings of the breath, ceaselessly watching anxiously 
the .float, which all this time is gyrating wildly several 
inches, beneath the w'ater, wfliile there is a slack line 
above.l • 
Suddenly the float comes to the surface and rests 
without motion. Then it is that the angler, his nerve, 
steadied by the. soothing nicotine, takes his rod in his 
hands, full of eager anticipation, for the critical moment- 
ha$ arrived. , Hardly has he done so when the float 
■again with4.a frantic rush disappears, the slack line 
abQ,vej:.straightens out, the tip of the rod goes down and 
. the fight is on. For several minutes the contest rages. 
the:a(igler giving and taking line, until exhausted, the. 
pick^el is drawn to the- side of the boat and landed. 
Genially there is a great gash along the side of the 
jaw,, torn by the hook in the frantic struggle of the fish 
to free itself. 
It is rare indeed that^when the fish is landed the 
hook does not drop out of the jaw of itS’ own accord . 
It is then that the fisherman plumes himself, and if he 
lias a companion, boasts loudly of the skill which he 
lias. di.splayed in landing his prey. To some extent he 
has a right to boast, for should he have made a single 
mistake, sliould he have slackened the line for an in- 
stant,, the hook would have dropped from the opening 
in. the jaw. and another fisherman would have had a 
chance another day. 
There is' another type of pickerel fisherman. He, 
like the troller, has a boatman. He may use a trolling 
spoo.n, he may use instead a single hook to which is 
attached an impaled shiner or perch, or even a piece 
of . pork cut in the form of a fish. Instead of rowing 
along the liljmads, or instead of anchoring his boat 
while fishing, his boatman takes him among the scented 
lilies. Standing at the stern, he casts his spoon or his 
bait in the openings and draws it with quick motion 
toward him or, sidewise, until a rush of one of the fresh- 
water pirates gives him his chance at the sport. 
When winter arrives and the lakes are covered with 
from one to three feet of ice, the ice fisherman goes 
forth. Under the present law of the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, the fisherman cuts one hole through the 
ice near the summer line of lilypads. He has with him 
two sticks, one a short piece of hickory the thickness 
of his thumb. This is to rest across the hole in the 
ice. This stick is thrown across the hole to hold the 
other stick, which is generally shaped like a fish. The 
hole through which the hickory stick is passed is near 
what would be the gills of the living fish. To the nose 
is fastened a four-foot line, to which is attached a single 
hook. To this is fastened a fluttering scarlet or white 
rag. The hook is baited with a shiner and dropped 
into the water, and the angler waits. Presently the 
nose of the wooden fish goes down, the tail is elevated 
and the gayly colored rag flutters in the air. The fish- 
erman steps forward, gets the line in his hand and pulls 
out the astonished and angry pickerel, unhooks him and 
drops it on. the ice, where in a few minutes it freezes 
hard. 
Within the last two or three years a summer angler 
in the lakes of northeastern Pennsylvania may average a 
dozen or a dozen and a half pickerel in a day’s fishing 
easily. The trollers usually have the largest scores. The 
fish average from two and a half to six pounds, and are 
unusnally rich in coloring. The species — and there is 
only one in these lakes — is the chain pickerel, scientific- 
ally known as Esoji- fasciatus. Only one lake in north- 
eastern Pennsylvania contains maskinonge, and that is 
Lake Ariel in Wayne county, and this great member 
of the pike family, is scarce in that body of water. 
W. E. Meehan. 
Pennsylvania Hatchery Work. 
The gathering of trout eggs is now occupying most of 
the time of the superintendents and spawn-takers con- 
nected with the Department of Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 
Rearing of trout in Pennsylvania has assumed vast pro- 
portions. Already very nearly 1,000,000 eggs have been 
taken and it is estimated that the take this year will reach 
about 4,000,000, of which about one-half will be taken 
from fish reared in the State hatcheries, the other will be 
gifts from several private and commercial hatcheries. 
Among those who have promised their surplus eggs are: 
W. S. Little, of Coudersport; Col. Harry Trexler, of 
Allentown ; the Blooming Grove Park Association, Glen 
Eyre; the Penn Forest Brook Trout Company, of Mauch 
Chunk, and the Weissport Brook Trout Company, of 
Weissport. To accommodate all this expected great sup- 
ply, outside nursery troughs have been built in several 
of the hatcheries, and the capacity of some of the build- 
ings increased. Six million eggs will be taken care of at 
Corry, 6,000,000 at Bellefonte and between 2,000,000 and 
3,000,000 at Wayne. 
A “hatching house for lake trout with a capacity of 
nearly 10,000,000 eggs has been built at the new Erie 
Auxiliary at Union City, thus increasing the capacity for 
egss of this fish to nearly 30,000,000. 
The Department of Fisheries on Thursday, Oct. 19, re- 
ceived the deeds for the hatchery site at Conneautville, in 
Crawford county, at the foot of Conneaut Lake, the new 
property which was donated by citizens of Crawford 
county, and authorized at the last session of the Legisla- 
■ ture, over twenty-five acres, and is designed for the rear- 
ing of fish other than trout. This hatchery will be known 
as Crawford Station No. 7. Two new hatchery sites will 
probably be located before spring, making a total of nine, 
an increase of six since the establishment of the Depart- 
ment of Fisheries three years ago. 
Fish Commissioner Meehan has designed a new jar for 
hatching fish. It is a combination of the McDonald and 
Downing Improved. It has the bottom and sides of- the 
McDonald and the top of the Downing Improved. It has 
a foot similar to the Downing Improved, except there is 
nO’ stem. ' 
A novelty in hatching houses is in operation at the 
Wayne hatchery. It is a combination of trough and bat- 
tery. The latter being arranged along one side of the 
hou.^e with a canacity for 500 jars. The water supply for 
the jars comes from the creek, while the water supply for 
. the trout troughs comes from the spring. 
Mr. J. P. Brower, assistant in charge of the Torresdale 
Hatchery, has resigned his position to accept a place on 
the Thousand Islands. Mr. W. H. Safford, who was first 
assistant at the Bellefonte hatchery, has been apoointed 
superintendent of the Torresdale station temporarily, the 
regular station to which he' has been assigned being th“ 
Crawford station, on which work will not begin until 
.spring. 
Reports from all over Pennsylvania indicate a sudden 
.. reapnearance of black bass- in large numbers, More fish 
of this species have been seen arid caught in Pennsylvania 
