COMMON FISHES OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER 
205 
dam was built. We lack the information necessary to answer the question of the 
migratory habits of these species. 
Remarks of Evermann and Clark (1920, p. 420) that are illustrative of the 
habits of the walleye pike in lakes may be quoted : 
The walleye bites almost any time during the year, but the best season is in June and during 
October and November. They are occasionally taken through the ice. * * * During the 
warmer weather they keep in deep water. When the weather first gets cold in the fall they come 
inshore in some numbers at night, doubtless to feed on other fishes. * * * They do not appear 
to stay near shore or in shallow water during the winter, for they are not seen through clear ice, 
and it is not known whether they go in schools or not. From the fact that only one or a few are 
taken at a time it would seem that they are rather solitary. 
The only mention of the breeding of sauger that has been found in the literature 
refers to two examples taken in Lake Champlain, N. Y., April 25. (Evermann and 
Kendall, 1896, p. 602.) The authors state that this indicates an earlier spawning 
season for sauger than for walleye. At Havana, 111., the walleye spawned from 
April 1 to 15. (Forbes and Richardson, 1908.) At Keokuk six saugers taken at 
various dates from March 27 to May 29 were examined, and none were found 
advanced in sexual development; it is possible that these were spent. In 
1916 an example taken on March 15 emitted milt on pressure. The breeding season 
and habits of the sauger offer a problem for study. 
In the vicinity of Keokuk the pike perches have not been of sufficient abundance 
to be of commercial importance, although the beginning of a market fishery is indi- 
cated by the statistical survey for 1922, in which year 2,280 pounds were reported. 
Locally they are the most esteemed of the game fishes. The walleye is much the 
larger of the two and is of predominantly northern distribution, being a most impor- 
tant fish in some of the Great Lakes. It is the common “pike” of the region just 
south of Lake Pepin, where it is sought in the swift clear waters. It is also exten- 
sively propagated by artificial means. It is reported to be diminishing in numbers 
in that region where the waters are becoming less clear. 
The walleye is said to attain a length of 3 feet and a weight of 25 pounds, while 
the sauger rarely exceeds a weight of 2 pounds. Some writers refer to the sauger as 
inferior in quality to the walleye, a conclusion evidently based upon observations in 
the north. The Missouri Fish Commission (1887, p. 118), clearly referring to the 
sauger, said: 
The smaller and more numerous variety rarely exceeds 3 pounds; this is the better table fish 
of the two. As a food fish he has no superior in our waters. His flesh is white, firm, and flaky, 
and of most delicious flavor. 
The pike perches and the yellow perch offer most unhappy examples of valuable 
fishery resources that during a long period of years have shown a remarkable decline 
in commercial importance in the Mississippi Basin as a whole. The story is plainly 
told in the following figures taken from Sette (1925, p. 209): 
Table 7. — Yield of yellow -perch, pike perch, and sauger fisheries of the Mississippi River and tribu- 
taries for various years 
Year 
Yellow perch 
Pike perch 
and sauger 
Year 
Yellow perch 
Pike perch 
and sauger 
1 894 
Pounds 
177, 909 
65, 006 
73, 447 
Pounds 
910, 057 
249, 435 
398, 668 
1908 
Pounds 
36, 000 
22, 250 
Pounds 
133, 000 
29, 395 
1898 
1922 
1903 
