284 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
woe it is less scarce, being caught sometimes in pound-nets, and more 
frequently in the River. At Milwaukee, the Muskellunge occurs in the 
lake but rarely ; it is never caught in gill-nets. I11 1868 Mr. Schultz took 
one in a small seine, in the old harbor, weighing one hundred pounds. 
This is believed by Mr. Kumlien to be a fact, having been testified to, as 
he says, “by so many reliable persons.” He adds: “Formerly, fish of 
this kind weighing eighty pounds were far from rare.” 
On the 9th of April, a fish of this species four feet in length was taken 
at Racine; head to operculum, ten inches ; to eye, four inches; greatest 
circumference, twenty and one-half inches ; over eye, eighteen inches ; at 
gills, eighteen inches; weight, forty-five pounds. These fish are never 
here taken in the gill-nets ; they are resident in the lake about Racine in 
winter. A very few have been known to occur at Waukegan. On the 
southeastern shore of Lake Michigan, including the fisheries of Saugatuck, 
South Haven, and St. Joseph, this fish is reported as always being of a 
large size. At Ludington, farther north, only one instance of capture is 
on record ; it is also said to be very rare at Grand Haven. 
But little has been reported regarding the occurrence of the Muskel¬ 
lunge upon the numerous fishing grounds along the north shore of the 
southern peninsula of Michigan, between Little Traverse Bay and Thunder 
Bay. It is generally rare through the Straits of Mackinaw, only about 
half a dozen being taken each season ; and most abundant of all at Les 
Cheneaux Islands. Capt. Coats caught one here, in 1874, weighing 
sixty-two pounds. These fish are rarely taken in pound-nets, and are 
chiefly caught with hook and line about the Les Cheneaux and Drummond 
Islands. Capt. Dingman has caught only one in his pound-net in the past 
fifteen years. All caught, of which he has heard, have been large. In 
Thunder Bay, about a dozen, on an average, are taken in twelve months. 
In Saginaw Bay, they are taken in about the same numbers as in Thunder 
Bay. Here too they are always large fish. A few are taken in seines 
along the coast between Port aux Barques and Port Huron. A few also 
are taken annually in the St. Clair River; perhaps a dozen or two alto¬ 
gether in this region during a year. Between Toledo and Detroit River, 
Lake Erie, a specimen of this fish is taken now and then in the pound- 
nets. When taken, it is always large. The same remark will apply to 
the vicinity of Toledo and Maumee Bay.* 
* Mr. Fred Alford states that he procured a Muskellunge from Maumee Bay, in 1864, weighing eighty-five 
pounds. 
