COMMON FISHES OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
143 
and has been supposed to prefer waters exceeding 10 feet in depth, yet it occurs 
throughout nearly the whole course of the Mississippi River and is widely distributed 
in the basin; thus, one of the largest specimens of record was taken in Lake Chautau- 
qua, N. Y. The more important fisheries for paddlefish have been in lakes of Loui- 
siana, Mississippi, and Arkansas and in the Ohio, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers (in 
the latter as far north as Lake Pepin, between Minnesota and Wisconsin). Paddle- 
fish usually are taken along with catfishes, buffalofishes, and carp in large seines, 
which may be hauled from barges by the use of reels or pulled ashore by the use of 
stationary winches. They are also taken in hoop nets and in floating trammel nets 
fished at night. In the Mississippi in recent years the sizes generally taken range 
from 4 to 12 pounds. Large examples, 25 or 35 pounds in weight, are rare, but fish 
of 12 or 15 pounds weight are said to be more common in the last year or two (preceding 
1926) at points on Lake Keokuk. 
In spite of the most careful searches by various investigators working in many 
localities, virtually nothing has yet been learned concerning the breeding habits of 
the paddlefish. It is reported to breed in Louisiana (Stockard, 1907; Alexander, 
1915), and it has been found in a nearly ripe condition at Louisville, Ky. (Evermann, 
1902.) There is also some testimony that it spawns in central Illinois. (Forbes & 
Richardson, 1908; Richardson, 19 13, p. 405.) Fishermen and dealers at and near 
Keokuk report that they frequently take examples containing eggs and that the roe is 
marketed for preparation as caviar. Dr. Paul Bartsch, who lived in Burlington, 
Iowa, from about 1885 to 1896, has stated orally that in the spring these fish entered 
the sloughs on the Illinois side of the river in great numbers, and that specimens ex- 
amined by him contained roe in an advanced stage of development. Wagner (1908, 
pp. 27-31) examined about 1,500 specimens from Lake Pepin, between Minnesota 
and Wisconsin, from June 11 to September 1, but none were found that were nearly 
ripe or recently spawned. He purchased there three young paddlefish, each measur- 
ing about 25 centimeters (10 inches) over all, among the smallest specimens ever 
collected. 
Stockard (1907), from observations made in Louisiana and Arkansas, concluded 
that the breeding season in that part of the country was about the middle or latter 
part of April. Allen (1911) obtained specimens 4 to 6 inches long on July 1 near 
Cairo, 111., and larger ones of 6 to 12 inches in length late in August or early in Sep- 
tember. He inferred that the breeding season was in March. Dr. A. D. Howard, 
from observations made during several seasons (1919-1921) in Louisiana and some in 
Arkansas, concluded that spawning occurred early in spring. The Fail-port station 
obtained a small specimen 26.1 centimeters in total length (about 10.3 inches) 
taken on a trot-line fished at a depth of 25 feet in the center of the channel of the 
White River, Ark., on June 19,1922. 
All the evidence indicates that the paddlefish breeds either in late winter or 
early spring, and as young specimens have been obtained at Cairo, 111., and Lake 
Pepin, Minn., and (during the course of this investigation) near Montrose, Iowa, 
there is at least some evidence to indicate that its breeding activities are confined 
neither to the northern nor to the southern extremes of its territory. 
There appears to be lack of any definite record of an extended migration of paddle- 
fish in an upstream or downstream direction. It has not been known whether the 
paddlefish of Louisiana and Minnesota were bred and reared in their respective locali- 
ties or whether migrations occurred between the extreme limits of the range of the 
