OUR HERITAGE OF THE FRESH WATERS 
101 
THE AMATEUR FISHERMAN’S DELIGHT: ROCK BASS 
Whatever it may lack in reputation among scientific fishers, this species is one of the most popular 
among average anglers. From the St. Lawrence to Texas, the legion of the unskilled easily transfer it 
from its rocky haunts to the frying-pan. 
“Skittering” is an angler’s term; it is done with 
a long rod and a short line, by jerking the bait 
along the surface. 
The Eastern Pickerel is probably a better game 
fish than either of the other Pickerels. These 
fishes, being rather easily caught, both in summer 
and winter, soon become reduced in numbers in the 
smaller water areas. 
Another species, the Banded Pickerel {Esox 
americarnis), also limited to the region east of the 
Alleghenies, is smaller than the Eastern Pickerel, 
seldom exceeding a foot in length. It inhabits 
chiefly lowland streams and swamps, often descend¬ 
ing streams to brackish water. 
The Little Pickerel {Esox vermiculatus) has a 
shorter body and longer head than its relatives. 
It is a fish of quiet waters and does not exceed a 
foot in length. It belongs to the Ohio and Mis¬ 
sissippi Valleys and to streams flowing into the 
(ireat Lakes. 
PIKE (Esox lucius) 
{For illustration see Color Plate^ page up) 
The Pike reaches but half the size attained by 
the Muskellunge. It has much the same distribu¬ 
tion but a greater range northward. The writer 
has taken it above the Arctic Circle in Alaska. 
The American Pike is probably not distinct from 
the Pike of the Old World, but the latter is believed 
to be larger. Being more widely distributed and 
abundant^than the Muskellunge, it is better known 
to anglers and is of more economic importance. 
The Pike, like the others of its family, is one 
of the notoriously voracious fishes, destroying 
great numbers of other fishes and many water 
birds and small aquatic mammals. It is well 
equipped for the predatory life and is believed 
to eat about a fifth of its own weight daily. There 
is no doubt about its being the enemy of all fishes 
inhabiting the shallower waters. Only a few Pike 
can find subsistence in ponds and lakes of limited 
extent. 
It is not a suitable fish for propagation in waters 
adapted to other fishes that are less piscivorous, 
and its cultivation should be restricted to such 
localities as are best adapted to it alone, and where 
it may subsist on fishes of the least value as game 
or food. 
The Pike reaches a length of four teet and a 
weight of 40 pounds or more. There are several 
much-quoted records to the effect that the Pike of 
Europe and Siberia have been known to exceed 
ICO pounds in weight. Natives of the Alaska 
Peninsula told me repeatedly that Pike of enormous 
size inhabit Lake Iliamna. 
It may be that the Pike attains its greatest 
size in far northern waters. In northern Alaska 
we found it abundant in all parts of the Kowak 
and its tributaries, especially in quiet lagoons lead¬ 
ing off from the river. There were many lurking 
in shallow water among overflowed mosses, where 
we continually startled them in walking along 
shore. 
Having little time for angling, we took such 
Pike as were needed for food by shooting them 
as they lav in the shallows with hardly enough 
water to cover them. I his was early in August 
