HARVARD UNIVERSITY. LIBRARY MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY Library of SAMUEL GARMAN %JLtt'vJUh.2.b,\qXt xXOL/tWOOuttX. DEC 2 6 1928 FOOD AND GAME FISHES 34 Union Square Ea.st, New York. To the Literary Editor. • Dear Sir: Not, /A The price of this volume is .../.... l" . We will ask YOU PLEASE TO SEND US A CLIPPING OF YOUR REVrEW WHEN IT APPEARS, aS We are very desirous of following this work in the review columns. Very truly yours, DOUBLEDAY, PaGK & CO. FOOD AND GAME FISHES I- £ AMERICAN FOOD AND GAME FISHES, a popular ACCOUNT OF ALL THE SPECIES FOUND IN AMERICA NORTH OF THE EQUATOR, WITH KEYS FOR READY IDENTIFICATION, LIFE HIS- TORIES AND METHODS OF CAPTURE BY DAVID STARR JORDAN, Ph.D. President of Leland Stanford Junior University AND BARTON WARREN EVERMANN, Ph.D. ichthyologist of the United States Fish Commission ILLUSTRATED WITH COLORED PLATES AND TEXT DRAWINGS, AND WITH PHOTOGRAPHS FROM LIFE BY A. RADCLYFFE DUGMORE NEW YORK DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO. 1902 Copyright, 1902, by DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO. Published May, igo2 PREFACE This volume upon American Food and Game Fishes is one of a series of books treating of tiie natural history of North America in its varied and more popular aspects. Its scope includes all the species of fishes north of Panama which are used by man as food or which are sought by anglers for the sport which their capture affords. In its preparation the authors have made free use of their various published writings upon fishes, especially their "Fishes of North and Middle America." They have also made equally free use of the vast store of valuable information contained in the numerous Reports and Bulletins of the United States Fish Com- mission, and the "Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States " by the late Dr. George Brown Goode and associates. The reports of the Fish Commissions of the different States and Canada, as well as the files of the many valuable outing magazines have been consulted. To the many individuals who have assisted us in one way or another we wish to express our thanks and appreciation. First of all we are indebted to the Hon. Geo. M. Bowers, U. S. Commis- sioner of Fish and Fisheries, and to Dr. H. M. Smith, Mr. W. de C. Ravenel, Dr. W. C. Kendall, Mr. E. L. Goldsborough, and Mr. C. H. Townsend, of the Fish Commission, for many courtesies extended and assistance given. The excellent coloured plates in this volume are from the splendid paintings by C. B. Hudson and A. H. Baldwin, and we are able to use them through the kind permission of Mr. Bowers. To Dr. Richard Rathbun, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, we are indebted for the privilege of using as text figures many of the illustrations from Bulletin 47, U. S. National Museum. The numerous excellent and artistically beautiful photographs of live fishes were all taken by Mr. A. Radclyffe Dugmore, who has, with infinite patience and skill, achieved such marvellous results in photographing wild animals. These photographs were taken by Mr. Dugmore expressly for this work at Key West, Lake Maxin- kuckee, and at the Pan-American Exposition; and it is doubted if such excellence had ever before been attained in this line of live animal photography. To numerous angling and sportsmen friends who have aided us with kindly advice and counsel we are duly grateful. In conclusion we may say that our aim has been to make a book which will prove useful and entertaining to anglers; to com- mercial fishermen and dealers in fish and fishery products; to teachers and others who wish to inform themselves regarding our vast array of food and game fishes; and to the multitude of intelligent men and women who have an interest in Nature and Nature Study. David Starr Jordan Barton Warren Evermann April the tenth Nineteen hundred and two vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface .... Introduction How to Identify a Fish American Bait Minnows Fishing with the Fly . Paddle-fishes (Polyodontidcv) Sturgeons (Acipenseridce) Catfishes (Silimdce) . Channel Cats Bullheads Mud Cats Stone Cats Suckers (Catostomidce) Buffalo Fishes Carp Suckers Gourd-seed Sucker Mountain Suckers Fine-scaled Suckers June Sucker of Utah Lake Lost River Sucker Razor-backed Suckers Chub Suckers Spotted Sucker Redhorse and Freshwater Mullets Big-jawed Sucker Hare-lip Sucker Minnows (Cyprinidce) True Eels (Anguillidce) Common Eel Conger Eels (Leptocephalid(B) Moray s (Murcenidi^) Tarpons (Elopidce) Tarpon Bony-fish or Ten-pounder Page V xxiii xxix XXXV xliii I 4 15 16 23 31 34 36 38 41 44 45 46 54 57 58 58 59 60 64 65 67 76 76 81 82 84 85 86 Vll Table of Contents ^ Lady-fishes (Albulidce) Lady-fish or Bonefish Mooneyes (Hiodontidce) Milk-fishes (Chanidce) Herrings (Clupeidce) True Herrings True Sardines Alewives Shad . Menhadens Anchovies ( Engratilidce) Silvery Anchovies California Anchovy Whitefish, Salmon and Trout fSalmonidce) Whitefishes . Lake Herrings and Ciscoes Inconnu Pacific Salmon Salmon and Trout Atlantic Salmon Sebago Salmon Ouananiche Trout of Western America Cutthroat Trout Series Steelhead Trout Series Rainbow Trout Series Great Lake Trouts Charrs .... Graylings (Thymallida:') Smelts ( Argentinidke ) Capelins Eulachons True Smelts Surf Smelts Blackfish (Dalliidcv) Pikes (Esocidcv) Banded Pickerel and Other Pickerel Common Pike Muskallunge Needlefishes (Belonidce) Pagb 90 94 95 96 99 lOI 105 [08 12 15 16 17 ^33 142 '43 59 163 166 [70 174 75 189 [94 203 206 220 22^ <* c ■ 3 2 3 kJ: p. CJ -3 ^ . ri =■ C ° S OJ rt aStn O cSWKQcqQ 4 "J ■>sO 1^00 o Ph p:< O 5J (A 0! •z z ^1 o o o _rt lU . H H *^ ."■d < PU d &»i O I-! E oi'o m n O Ph "rt c 3 ^ ^ H S3 ■ t- o 0)0 c g Op; 2^1 . Z "p. p. Si S 3 iJ-C3 p a" d cd oj Wi Ocqo,Jcn S o ^ H CO O, " N ro O M M M M w Cfl o 1) >, •S =* £">< « d Eg j- . o o ,5 "^ £--::_ d rt M « .-O ■* UIVO t^OO How to Identify a Fish He must in some cases examine the stomach, air-bladder, pyloric coeca, gilirakers and branchiostegals. But though some of these names are long, none of them is difficult to understand and the characters are usually easy to make out. In the accompanying drawing of a whitefish the important parts of the external anatomy are indicated by name. The white- fish will serve as a type of the great group of soft-rayed fishes to which belong many of the most important families of our game and food fishes. And the small-mouth black bass, of which a drawing is here given, will answer the same purpose for the spiny-rayed fishes, a still larger and, in many respects, more important group. With the aid of these two figures one can easily learn about all the external anatomical or other characters used in the present work in the identification of fishes. These parts are common to most fishes and their names once learned will be found easy to remember. Near the close of the volume will be found a very complete ''Glossary," of terms more or less technical, for the use of those who find words with which they are not familiar. There is also near the close of the book (pp. 541-544), a "Key to the Families of Fishes" which must be used by those who do not at once recognize the family to which the fish under consideration belongs. All the keys in this work are arranged on the "alternative" basis, which means that either the one or the other of two contrasted statements will be true. The first statement to be considered in using any of the keys is lettered "a", " b ", or "c", etc., and the alternative is "aa", "bb", or " cc", etc., the number- ing letter being always written double in the alternative. With fish in hand read what is said under "a" ; if that be true of your fish, read the first subdivision under "a" which is " b ". So long as what is said under the single letter applies to your fish you read on from one subdivision to another until a letter is reached under which there are no subdivisions when you will be brought to a family, generic or specific name. Turn to the page indicated by the figures following this name and you will there find the family, genus or species (as the case may be) to which your fish belongs fully described. Whenever the statement under the single letter is found not to be true of your fish, you then read J? 0. r,3 0) O . SS ■ti ^-C O S c« O ^ CJ < o Pi I-) > w ■z ffi a. H w a wd CL, M3 r)0 r*oo 00 How to Identify a Fish the alternative which is under the same letter doubled, and pro- ceed as before. In a few instances there is a second or even third alternative, the guide letter being written three or four times to correspond, as, for example, "111" in the Key to Families. If you do not know to what family the specimen in hand belongs use the Key to Families at the close of the volume where all the family names are numbered and paged to correspond with their position in the text. When the family is found and its important characters studied, the key following the family diagnosis will lead one to the right genus. If the specimen agrees with the generic diagnosis given, you can be sure that no mistake has been made thus far and the particular species can be determined by the use of the key following. These keys and descriptions may at first seem somewhat difficult but with a little experience they become exceedingly easy to use and understand. In descriptions of fishes certain comparative measurements are made. The length of the head and the depth of the body are always compared with the standard length of the fish, which is the distance from the tip of the snout to the base of the caudal fin. The diameter of the eye, Idhgth of snout, maxillary, and mandible, and (usually) the length of fins, spines or rays, are compared with that of the head. In our descriptions of species, we have attempted to bring the principal comparative measurements first. The expressions "head 4 ", or " depth 4 ", mean that the length of the head in the one case, or the greatest depth of the body in the other, is contained 4 times in the length of the fish measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the last caudal vertebra, the caudal fin being not included. " Eye 5 " means that the horizontal diameter of the eye is contained 5 times in the length of the head. "Scales 11-85-25" means that there are 1 1 rows of scales between the front of the dorsal fin . and the lateral line, 85 scales in the lateral line itself, and 25 scales in an oblique series downward and backward from the lateral line to the origin of the anal fin, or the vent. When the number of pores in the lateral line is fewer than the number of scales, we have usually indicated the fact. The fin formulas are usually shortened as much as possible; thus " D. 10"; "D. V, 9"; or " D. VIII-13", means that in the first case the fish has a single dorsal fin of 10 soft or articulated rays; in the second How to Identify a Fish case a single dorsal fin of 5 spines and 9 soft rays; and the last indicates a fish with two dorsal fins the anterior of which is composed of 8 spines and the other of 1 3 soft rays. Spines are always indicated by roman letters and rays by figures. The abbreviations for the other fin formulas are similarly explained. The measurements given in the text are intended to apply to the average of mature fishes. Young fishes are usually more slender, the head and eye larger, and the mouth smaller than in adults. Those who wish to learn more of what has been written regard- ing American fishes are referred to the present writers' " Fishes of North and Middle America," a work in 4 volumes of 3,313 pages and about 1,000 illustrations recently published as Bulletin 47 of the United States National Museum; to the "Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States " by Dr. George Brown Goode, published in 1884 as a part of the Tenth Census Reports; and to the various Annual Bulletins and Reports of the United States Fish Commission. XXXIV AMERICAN BAIT MINNOWS To-morrow we will go a-fishing ; do thou go now and fetch the bait. — Hymir to Thor. The great majority of the " bait minnows " used by anglers in America belong to the Cypr/mdce, which is the carp or minnow family proper. Two or three are catfishes, three or four are darters, one or more species of killifish are used to some extent, the skipjack {Labidesthes sicculus) is used in some places for certain kinds of fishing, and the young of several species of suckers are seen in the live-box of the dealer in "minnows" or in the bucket of the amateur angler. The mud minnow {Umbra limi), which, of course, is no minnow at all, any more than that it is a young dog-fish {Amia calva), as many a fisherman will assure you, may also be found among the species offered for sale. And all these have their advantages, — that of Umbra being that it will live and remain vigorous under any kind of treatment ; even the game fish will let it severely alone. Even young bass, perch and blobs may now and then be seen in the live-boxes, and unsophisticated anglers may be inveigled into paying a good round price for them upon the recommendation of the conscienceless dealer who asseverates that they are "just the thing." With these few exceptions, however, all the small fishes used for bait belong to a single family, the Cyprinidce, an exceedingly large family of fishes, usually small in size, found throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The number of species found in each of these three continents is very great, and the total number of known species in the family is very large. In North America alone the family is represented by about 40 genera and 130 species. There is scarcely a stream or lake which has not from 2 or 3 to 30 or more species of this family. The streams of the Upper Mississippi basin are most abundantly supplied; not only are there numerous species, but individuals abound. In the Wabash basin alone not fewer than 30 different species are found. Though most of the minnows are species whose individuals attain only a small size, this is not true of all members of the American Bait Minnows family. While our largest minnows in the Eastern States rarely reach a length of more than a foot or i8 inches, there are species in the West, particularly in the Colorado and Columbia rivers, which attain a length of 4 to 5 feet and a weight of many ponnds. And they are as true minnows as are any of our small species. The term "minnow" does not mean a small fish or a young fish, but it means a member of the Cyprinidce family of fishes, whatever may be its size. The proper name for young fish is fry. Our genera of Cyprinidce are mostly very closely related and are separated by characters which, although reasonably constant are often of slight structural importance. All the species spawn in the spring and early summer and the spring or breeding dress of the male is often peculiar. The top of the head, and often the fins and other parts of the body are covered with small tub- ercles, outgrowths from the epidermis. The fins and low- er portions of the body are often charged with bright pigment, the prevailing col- our of which is red, although in some genera it is satin-white, yellow, or even black. Young Cyprinidce are usually more slender than adults of the same species, and the eye is always much larger. The young also frequently show a black lateral stripe and caudal spot which the adult may not possess. The fins and scales are often, especially in individuals living in small brooks or in stagnant water, covered with round black specks, which are immature trematodes and should not be mistaken for true colour markings. No progress can be made in the identification of minnows without very careful attention to the teeth, as the genera are largely based on dental characters. The minnows have no teeth in the mouth, the jaws, tongue, vomer and palatines being entirely toothless. The only teeth which they possess are on the pharyngeal bones, and are known as pharyngeal teeth. Pharyngeal teeth of the Redfin (Notropis corniUus) , which has the teeth 2, 4-4, 2, hooked and with narrow grind- ing surface. XXXVl American Bait Minnows The pharyngeal bones can be removed by inserting a pin or small hook through the gill-opening, under the shoulder-girdle. The bone may then be carefully cleaned with a tooth-brush, and when dry, examined with a hand-lens and the teeth easily made out. In most cases the teeth will be found to be in two rows, the principal row containing 4 or 5 teeth, and the other row having but i or 2, which are usually smaller. There is, of course, a pharyngeal bone on each side, and both must usually be examined. The 2 sides are usually, but not always, sym- metrical. Thus, "teeth 2,4-5,1" indicates two rows of teeth on each side, on the one side 4 in the principal row and 2 in the lesser row; on the other side 5 in the main row and i in the other. "Teeth 4-4" means a single row of 4 teeth on each pharyngeal bone. In many of our minnows the teeth, or the principal ones, are "raptatorial," — that is, hooked inward at the tips. A grinding or masticatory surface is an excavated space or groove, usually at the base of the hook. Sometimes the grinding surface is very narrow and confined to 1 or 2 teeth. Sometimes a bevelled or flattened edge looks so much like a grinding surface as to mislead a superficial observer. In some cases the edge of the tooth is serrate or crenate. Minnows are found in all sorts of places. Certain species, as the spot-tailed shiner, are confined chiefly to lakes ; others, as the fallfish, are found in the larger streams ; still others, as the creek chub, are found in the smaller streams. In any given stream certain species will be found to frequent the swiftly- flowing waters or the riffles and gravel-bars; others seek the deeper, quiet pools; while yet others will be found among the patches of aquatic vegetation. Collecting bait minnows : There are, of course, all sorts of ways for collecting or securing bait minnows. The great majority of anglers are doubtless in the habit of depending upon local dealers for bait. Every important fishing resort has one or more persons who are in the business and from whom live minnows may be obtained at prices varying from 25 cents to $2.00 a dozen. And there are dealers who keep nothing but desirable minnows, but the average man who handles live bait is not so particular, and in his live-box may be found all sorts of small fish, and some xxxvii American Bait Minnows that are not small, which he recommends in the highest terms to the inexperienced angler. But many anglers, either by preference or from necessity, collect their own bait minnows, and this custom has much to recommend it ; for one can usually secure better minnows. He can make his own selections as to species and size, his minnows will be fresher and more vigorous than those from the Saprolegnia- infested live-box, and, moreover, he who collects his own min- nows learns much about their habits and much of nature, which will be no disadvantage to any man. The best and most satisfactory manner of collecting minnows for bait is by means of the Baird collecting seine. These seines can be had of any desired length from H. & G. W. Lord, Boston, but the angler, will of course, keep within the lawful limit of minnow seines. The peculiarity of the Baird seine is that the middle portion is made with finer mesh than the ends and is made into a bag 2 or 3 feet in length. Seines without the bag, but with the finer mesh in the bunt may be had. Various other kinds of nets are used, with varying success, but a Baird seine 15 to 25 feet long will prove most satisfactory. Minnows suitable for live bait can be found in almost any stream or lake that has not been overfished or whose waters are not polluted or made unsuitable for fish by milling, mining, logging or sewage operations. Different species will be found in different streams, some preferring those with colder water, rocky bottom, and swiftly-flowing current, while others have chosen the streams whose waters flow more slowly and are warmer, and whose bottom is of mud or sand or fine gravel. And in the same stream different species will seek out different parts; some prefer the quiet reaches, some the patches of aquatic vegetation, while others delight to dwell in the shallows of the riffles upon the gravel-bars where the water flows swiftly and is well aerated A similar distribution of species will be noticed in the lakes and ponds. Generally speaking, the species of minnows will be most numerous and individuals most abundant in the warmer streams and lakes. In the experience of many anglers, creek or river minnows are preferable to those from lakes or ponds, particularly if one is fishing for black bass or wall-eyed pike. The best bait species American Bait Minnows are those that are found in the swiftly flowing water of the riffles. Not only are the species better, but the fish are more vigorous and active, and more tenacious of life, as well as more silvery or brightly coloured, which are the points chiefly deter- mining the excellence of a bait minnow, as such. To be effective, a bait minnow must be bright or silvery enough to attract the attention of the fish, it must be active to show that it is alive, albeit in distress or under restraint, and its tenacity of life must be great to enable it to withstand the changed and constantly changing environment and the slight physical injury incident to its being impaled upon the hook. The size of the minnows selected will of course be determined by the kind of fishing the angler wishes to do. In seining for bait minnows a great many small fish will be caught which are not wanted. It would seem that it ought not to be necessary to urge that these should all be returned to the water, but entirely too many bait-gatherers and anglers fail to do so. The seine is hauled out upon the shore, the minnows that are wanted are put into the live-bucket, and the rest of the catch is dumped upon the shore to die. Among the fishes allowed to perish miserably in this way will be found young of many food-and-game species such as both species of black bass, the rock bass, bluegill, and yellow perch, as well as many other species that are either valuable as food or which serve as food for our game fishes. The great scarcity of fish in many streams and small lakes is undoubtedly due in large measure to this wholly inexcusable carelessness and the criminal indifference of those seining for bait. Various sorts of traps are used for catching minnows. The most common and perhaps the most effective is made of wire and constructed after the manner of the ordinary rat-trap, which permits easy entrance but exit from which is difficult. These traps are, of course, baited, usually with small particles or balls of dough, and are set in places which minnows are known to frequent. Minnows may be caught also by means of a small dip-net by properly baiting it and allowing it to rest upon the bottom until the minnows are over it in numbers feeding upon the dough with which it has been baited; then by lifting the net quickly the minnows may be secured. American Bait Minnows In the absence of all better ways good bait minnows, parti- cularly the fallfish, creek chub, river chub, and redfin may be obtained with hook and line, provided the hook used be very small. The care of live minnows: More bait minnows die from careless handling and disease than are used in actual fishing, but it should be otherwise. With proper attention there should be but little loss with any of the desirable minnows ; most of them are hardy and will do well in confinement. In the first place, a large minnow bucket is better than a small one, and too many fish should not be put in it at one time; crowding should always be avoided. The fish must be handled as little as possible and with extreme care; handling or other treatment which results in rubbing off any scales is sure to prove fatal very soon. The water should be kept cool and well aerated, either by addition of fresh water by pouring, or by pumping air into the water with a bicycle pump. Before putting minnows in the bucket it should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, so that no germs may be left from fish which may have died in it. If you have a live-box in which you keep on hand a larger supply of minnows, it should receive the same attention. It must be set in suitable water, water that is cool and which has a current, if possible, and must be thoroughly cleaned and disin- fected as often as possible. Probably the vast majority of fish which die in live-boxes and aquariums do so from the attacks of different species of a fungus belonging to the genus Saprolegnia. These are plants [closely related in structure to the algae, and may be regarded as degraded forms which, because of their saprophytic or parasitic habits, have lost their chlorophyl or green colouring matter. This fungus may develop on any part of the fish, though perhaps most abundantly or more frequently on the tail, fins or head, or where scales have been rubbed off. It may be limited to small definite patches, or may spread all over the fish. In general it forms tufts of white, fluffy threads that radiate out from the body. The mycelium of this fungus develops beneath the scales or skin, and by the time it appears on the surface the fish is past recovery. The only way to do then is to destroy all those evidently affected. The others which may be saved should be removed to another tank or vessel and treated to a saltwater bath. xl American Bait Minnows The salt solution should not be too strong; ordinarily about one part of salt to a thousand of water will prove sufficiently strong. Before the fish are returned to the live-box it should be carefully cleaned and set in a different place. It is of course much more difficult to keep minnows in the summer than at any other time ; and as it is also easier to get them then there is no necessity for crowding the live-box. Though there are more than a hundred species of minnows in America and nearly all of them are used to some extent as bait, not more than a dozen or 14 are usually regarded as bait minnows. While the relative values of the different kinds of bait min- nows vary greatly with the locality, nevertheless certain species are recognized by all anglers as particularly suitable for certain game fishes and others for other game fishes. For muskallunge the best and most popular minnows are the fallfish {Semoiilus corporalis), large examples of the creek chub (5, atromaculatus), and the river chub {Hybopsis kentucki- ensis). Small suckers are also often used, but perhaps the best of all is the river chub, as it is a hardy vigorous fish which will endure much punishment and is very active and attractive on the hook. Smaller examples of these same species are excellent for both species of black bass. For bass fishing the following additional species are superior live-bait: Storer's chub {Hybopsis storerianiis) redfin or common silverside {Notropis cornutits), shiner or spottail minnow {N. hudsonius), the silverfin (N. whipplii), the slender silver- side {N. atherinoides), and the blunt-nosed minnow {Pimephales notaiiis). In the Potomac and Susquehanna rivers small catfish are extensively used and are very killing, in Maine the gray- back or " shore-fish" (Ftmdulus diaphanus) is much used. But the style of minnow varies much with the locality and the season. In some places and during some seasons crawfish and frogs are the best lures. Frogs are used in New England and in the Great Lakes region. Crawfish are popular in the Great Lakes and throughout the Mississippi Valley. In the small lakes of northern Indiana, justly celebrated for their black bass, the small- mouth prefers a grasshopper in the summer but in the fall the river chub, blunt-nosed minnow and redfin are the best. The large-mouth does not ordinarily take grasshoppers very readily, xli American Bait Minnows but the various minnows just named, if of somewhat larger size, are very effective. Of course many other kinds of small fishes are used as live- bait in different localities and many kinds of live-bait not min- nows are used, among which the names of many will occur to the angler who reads these pages, — grasshoppers, frogs, clams, white grubs, angleworms, dobsons, hellgrammite, and even mice. Perhaps the thorough-going angler will be disposed to scorn all live-bait and use only the artificial fly. And in this he is quite right, for to catch many fish is no longer the desire of the true angler. Only those unworthy the name and whom we no longer respect are disposed to make large catches. Anglers now go a-angling with light tackle and give the fish a chance. They will not catch many fish; the size of the basket is not their aim. They will never take more fish than they can properly use. But they will enjoy fishing only the more on that account. They will get away from offices, counting-rooms, school-books, parlours and five-o'clock teas, out into the open of existence where life is real and where worry and strain and sham are not; where there are green banks and leafy, fragrant woods, singing birds and blue skies. These they will see and feel and enjoy and, returning home, the serious affairs of life will be taken up again with lighter heart and cleaner soul. "It is not all of fishing to fish." xlii FISHING WITH THE FLY LY FISHING is the art of presenting to a fish a bunch of feathers tied to a hook in such a manner that the fish will believe that the aforesaid bunch is something edible and become "permanently attached" to it. The seductiveness of the presentation of the artificial fly depends greatly on the ability of the fisherman to cause his line to fall gently on the water within reasonable distance of the spot where his prospective victim is lying in wait for something to eat to pass by. Fly fishing is the highest branch of angling. Its appurten- ances are the most artistic of all fishing tackle and its practice utilizes the most graceful of all motions involved in fishing. It is a perpetual joy to its votaries, and, like chess, while the element- ary moves are easily learned, there is always room for improvement. The requisite tackle is simple, beautiful and, comparatively speaking, inexpensive. The man of moderate means is perfectly equipped with a ten-dollar outfit, while the wealthy angler may gratify his artistic taste in the ownership of an equipment costing fifteen times as much and both may meet on the stream on exactly equal terms. The float, sinkers, spoons, bait boxes and swivels of the bait fisherman form no part of the fly-caster's outfit. A light rod with the reel seat below the hand— a simple single- action reel, 25 to 60 yards of waterproof enameled fly line, a couple of 6 foot leaders of single silkworm gut, an assortment of flies and a book to hold them, a creel, and a short-handled land- ing-net complete his equipment. He has no bait to procure and no worry, trouble or bother in transporting and keeping it alive; the success of his day's outing depends on his skill, the use of the simple equipment given, and his knowledge of the habits of the fish he pursues. The novice who has never tried to cast a fly will get per- haps as much assistance as he can receive from printed matter out of the following simple instructions: Fishing with the Fly Take your rod from the case, attach' your single-action reel to the butt of the rod on the same side as the guides, in such a position that with the reel on the under side of the butt the handle will be at the right hand. Join the tip and the middle joint together, keeping the guides of both in line, pressing the ferrules gently together, avoiding a twisting motion which is apt to injure the rod; then bring the second joint and butt together in the same manner. Draw 3 or 4 yards of line from the reel and thread it through the guides and tip. Attach the free end of your line to the upper leader loop with a knot as indicated in illustration (i). The advantage of this knot lies in the fact that I Knot for attaching leader to line for fly-fishing. any amount of tension on line or leader will serve only to draw it more tightly, but a slight pull on the loose end (A) will at once release the knot. Make an assortment of three flies, using dark or dull coloured flies for bright days or shallow water and bright gaudy flies for dark days or deep streams. Pass the loop of the fly snell over the leader loops, then bringing the body of the fly through the latter. The leader should be moist and pliant before using; otherwise it will snap when casting and your flies will either decorate some nearby tree-top or sail down the stream entirely unconnected with the rest of your tackle. For casting from a boat or on a comparatively open stream the ordinary over- hand cast which is the simplest may be used. Hold the butt of your rod in your right hand with your reel underneath. Strip sufficient line from your reel to enable your end or dropper fly to come to the butt of your rod. Hold the hook of your dropper fly in the left hand, pulling it backwards on a line with, and sufficient distance below the butt of your rod, to bend the tip in a half circle. Hold your rod almost horizontally, with a slight upward inclination to the tip. Release the dropper fly. The spring of the rod tip will cause the line to spring forward its full length and the flies to light on the water. With the thumb xliv Fishing with the Fly and the fore-finger of the left hand grasp the line above the reel, stripping a couple of feet of it. Raise the rod with a gradual quickening motion until the tip of the rod passes backward over the right shoulder and back of one's head. This will raise the flies from the water and, as they rise, the resistance of the water will take up the slack of the line which has just been stripped from the reel. Rising from the surface of the stream, line, leader and flies will swing over and behind you in a manner similar to a coach driver's whip-lash. Continue the motion of the rod in an elliptical course which will bring the tip forward and to the left until the tip lies again ' before you — at an angle of about 25 degrees. Then let it cease its motion. By this time if the cast is properly made, the line is out straight ahead of you and the flies have dropped on the surface of the water at a point 2 feet ahead of the spot where they lay before making the cast. The trick in making this style of cast is to have the line straight out behind you at the same instant that the rod is at its furthest backward position; for if the forward motion is made before the line is straightened out, it will snap like a coachman's whip and good-by leaders and flies. In practising have a com- panion watch you and shout "forward" at the very instant when the line is at the correct position for the forward cast. A little practice with a watcher to warn will enable you to know in- tuitively what is the correct time to commence the forward motion of the rod. Keep the right elbow close to the body. Let all motion be in the forearm and wrist until flies almost touch the water. Use as much as possible the elasticity of the rod to shoot flies and line forward. Keep the rod tip at an angle of 25 degrees until the flies almost touch the water. Then lower it gently just suf- ficient to allow the flies reaching the surface without splash. If the cast ' is not long enough, strip a couple more feet of line from the reel and proceed as before until the cast is long enough to suit you or you have as much line out as you can manage. The position of the rod and the actual path of the flies through the air, from the time of leaving the water until touch- ing it again, will be readily understood by referring to Figure 2. No. I is the first position of the rod with the fly resting on the water, No. 2 shows the rod at the end of the backward motion, xlv Fishing with the Fly and No. 3 in its position just before the fly drops to the surface of the water. The path of the flies themselves, from the time they rise from the water until their return to it, is indicated by the dotted lines, the fly moving in the direction of the arrow. 2, Overhand cast. It is not always possible to be able to make this kind of cast without danger of entangling the flies in the brushwood back of you and it is often desirable to be able to drop the flies under a projecting bush or tree. For dropping under an overhanging ob- struction flipping the fly as described when first getting it into the water is a good scheme. The method of making this "flip" cast will be readily under- stood by referring to diagram No. 3, showing relative position of rod and line and the dotted line indicating the path of the flies through the air. 3. Flip cast. A very powerful method of getting one's fly out against a head wind is in swiftly raising the rod from nearly a horizontal to a vertical position and then down and away from one with a forceful switching motion. This throws the line up overhead and then downward and out in front of the caster, the line and the flies cutting through the breeze. This explanation is scarcely as plain as the diagram No. 4. xlvi Fishing with the Fly The underhand cast, as illustrated in cut No. 5, differs from the overhand in that the path of the fly on leaving the water instead of being upward, is brought back by the motion of the rod from position i to 2, about on a level with the reel, and on 4. " Wind cast." reaching its furthest backward point by the motion of the rod from positions 2 to 3, the fly sweeps upward, forward, and then down- ward to the water, as indicated by the dotted line, in a parabolic curve. Roughly speaking, while the path of the fly in the over- hand cast may be said to describe almost a figure 8 in the air, in the underhand method it moves in an irregular ellipse. Underhand cast. The switch casting shown in Figure No. 6 will be more easily understood by reference to the diagram than from the lengthy ex- planation which will be required to describe it. i, 2, 3 and 4 show the various positions of the rod from the time the fly is on the water until the time it is just about to return to the surface. The heavy lines show approximately the shape which the line assumes at the different positions of the rod, while the dotted line indicates the course of the flies which travel in the direction of the arrow points. The switch cast, when mastered, is a method that enables one to get a tremendous amount of line out; it will also require considerable practice. xlvii Fishing with the Fly There are several other very beautiful and useful casts, whicli nothing but actual practice under an expert will enable one to acquire. By all means fish up stream, if possible. Trout lie with their heads toward the head of the stream, waiting for their food to float toward them. Their vision above and ahead is singularly acute, but extremely poor toward the rear. Cast above them and let the flies float down over them. They are not as likely to see you as if you were in front, and they will not be disturbed by the dirt and debris which you set in motion and which float down stream. 6. Switch cast. In spring and early summer trout may be found in compara- tively shallow water among the ripples. Of course, where the current is very strong in these ripples, or miniature rapids, it may sometimes be desirable to fish for them from up stream, but this practice is to be avoided when possible. The tackle and methods, as indicated above, are identical for both trout and black bass, with the exceptions, while the trout fly rod may run from 9 to 10^ feet in length and for practical purposes weigh from 6 to 7^ ounces, the bass rod should be about 10 feet in length, and requiring more backbone, should weigh from 8 to 10 ounces. Trout and bass flies are almost identical in their patterns, but while trout flies should be tied on sproat hooks ranging in size for ordinary work from 8 to 10, or for clear much fished streams, on even No. 12, the bass casting flies are tied on Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5. The most useful may be named as fol- lows: Coachman, professor, soldier, grizzly-king, queen of the water, and ibis, while the green, brown, yellow and red hackles, together with the white hackle for evening use or on very dark days, will be found excellent stand-bys. While for ordinary streams flies tied on 8 to 10 sproat hooks and the regulation single trout leaders will be found satisfactory, xlviii Fishing with the Fly for work on very clear and much fished waters, when the trout have by actual experience or hereditary knowledge become shy, midges or very tiny flies on No. 12 hooks and very finely drawn leaders will more successfully deceive them. On such streams the English method of dry-fly fishing is often the only style of casting that will put trout in the creel. The usual style of trout-fly fishing consists in wading the stream and making casts in likely places — at the foot of riffles, at the edges of stumps, logs and brush and beneath overhanging bushes and banks. The dry-fly fisher, on the contrary, waits until he perceives a rising fish and then presents his fly in such a man- ner that it will float over it. In order to have the flies float, they must be dry, and to keep them dry the angler goes along his way casting them backward and forward through the air, never letting them touch the water until actually presenting them to the fish. This continual swinging enables him to have a quantity of line out and under instant control and also dries the flies after each unsuccessful immersion. Some fishermen drag the flies over the water at the end of each cast, believing that the motion resembles that of an aerial insect endeavoring to escape to land, and flies are often tied with heads toward the hook barb so that, on being drawn over the water, the resistance of their legs and wings will cause them to flutter as if alive. Other anglers declare that the more attractive method is to allow the flies to float quietly, and to enable them to remain on the surface, the bodies of some flies are wound over strips of cork. Trout, black bass, grayling and salmon, are the principal American fishes whose capture may be sought with the fly. Both the grayling and salmon may be dismissed with a word. The former, while game, is found in comparatively few waters. The latter requires expensive tackle, boats, guides, and the rights to fish in the waters which it inhabits rent at so high a figure that com- paratively few fishermen can afford to indulge in the pastime of bringing them to gaff. Trout and bass, like one's poor relations, are always with us, scarcely any portion of this country is without its trout or bass water, and the poorest man may occupy his vaca- tion in submitting the fly to their critical taste. The little sunfish or pumpkin-seed of our ponds and fresh water streams possesses game qualities not generally recognized. Although usually fished xlix Fishing with the Fly for with worms, this beautiful little fellow will take the fly, his preference being one in which orange or yellow predominates, such as the yellow drake, California red hackle, yellow may or ouana- niche. On a light fly-rod, swinging his broad side against the stram of the line which he makes cut the water in a hissing circle, Mr. Pumpkin Seed will often give the fisher a pleasant afternoon when trout and bass are not rising. Many other species of fresh-water fishes will take the fly, some of them readily and with a rush, others somewhat gingerly. Among those we have taken with the fly may be mentioned "Clark's spey cast" is a difficult, but beautiful cast to make. Mr. Clark, from whom it takes the name, is credited with throwing fifty yards. the crappie, calico bass, rock bass, warmouth bass, bluegill, red-eared sunfish, white lake bass, and yellow perch. And the Cisco of Lake Tippecanoe and the small Wisconsin lakes takes the fly beautifully for a few days in June, as has been shown by that excellent and versatile angler, William C. Harris. E. T. KEYSER. THE PADDLEFISHES Family I. PolyodontidcB Body fusiform, scarcely compressed; skin smootii, scaleless; snout lengthened and expanded into a long, thin, flat blade or spatula, the inner part formed by the produced nasal bones, the outer portion with a reticulate bony framework, the whole some- what flexible; mouth broad and terminal, but overhung by the broad spatulate snout; border of mouth formed by the premaxillaries, the maxillaries being obsolete; jaws and palatines with numerous fine, decidous teeth in the young, scarcely evident in the adult; no tongue; spiracles present; opercle rudimentary, its skin produced behind in a long, pointed flap; no pseudobranchise; gills 4^; gillrakers long, in a double series on each arch, the series divided by a broad membrane; gill-membranes connected, but free from the isthmus; a single broad branchiostegal ray; no barbels; nostrils at the base of the blade and double; a well-developed and contin- uous lateral line, its lower margin with short branches; dorsal fin placed posteriorly, of soft rays only; anal fin similar, somewhat more posterior; tail heterocercal, the lower lobe, however, well- developed, the tail being thus nearly equally forked; sides of the upper caudal lobe armed with small, rhombic plates; pectoral fins moderate, placed low; ventrals many-rayed, abdominal; air-bladder cellular, not bifid; pyloric coeca a short, broad, branching, leaf-like organ; intestine with a spiral valve; skeleton chiefly cartilaginous. This family contains but two known species — Psephiirus gladiiis, a singular inhabitant of the fresh waters of China, and the paddlefish found in the United States. Paddle-fish; Spoon-bill Cat Polyodon spathula (Walbaum) The Paddle-fish is one of the most singular and interesting fishes occurring in American waters. Its home is in the bayous The Paddlefish and lowland streams of the Mississippi Valley from Texas and Louisiana on the south to Minnesota and Wisconsin on the north. It is not uncommon in the Ohio and its larger tributaries, and in the Missouri basin it is found at least as far west as western South Dakota. It is particularly abundant in the streams of Arkansas, the lower Ohio and the Mississippi north to St. Paul. A single example has been recorded from Lake Erie which it doubtless reached through the Wabash and Erie Canal. _ ^ - The paddle-fish reaches an immense size. Mr. William C. Harris, in his "Fishes of North America," records an individual taken in Lake Tippecanoe, Indiana, which was 6 feet 2 inches in total length, 4 feet in greatest circumference, and which weighed 150 pounds; and we have a photogaph of another caught in Chautauqua Lake, whose length and circumference were exactly the same as in the Tippecanoe specimen, but whose weight was somewhat less, it being only 123^^ pounds. Another example obtained in Lake Manitau, Indiana, weighed 163 pounds, which is the largest on record. Still another, a male, caught by us in White River, South Dakota, was 4 feet 5 inches in total length and weighed 18 pounds. Mr. F. R. Mueller, a wholesale fish dealer of Chicago, who has made a specialty of this species, says he has seen examples as long as 4^2 feet and weigh- 75 to 80 pounds. He states that the average length is 3 feet and the weight 30 pounds. Mr. Mueller's figures doubtless refer to female fish at spawning time when they are much heavier than the males. In 1817, the distinguished naturalist, Charles Alexandre Le Sueur, described a specimen, 4 feet 8 inches in total length, which he obtained in the Ohio River, but adds that the species grows to somewhat larger size. Dr. Kirtland, in 1845, states that Dr. Engelman of St. Louis examined a specimen, 5 feet 10 inches long, weighing 79 pounds. The shovel of this specimen was i6>^ inches long and 4 inches wide, 4 inches from the tip He further states that another example taken at the same time weighed " more than 90, or even 100 pounds." According to Mr. Horace Beach of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, the paddle-fish is not uncommon in the river at that place, where it attains a maximum length of somewhat more than 4 feet and a weight of 30 pounds. The young of the paddle-fish are scarcely, if at all, known. Indeed, we have never seen or heard of an example under 6 or 8 The Paddlefish inches in lengtii, and individuals so small as that are but rarely seen. Specimens under a foot in length are very greatly desired by naturalists. The little that is known regarding the spawning time or place of this fish indicates that, in the lower Mississippi Valley, the spawning season is during March and April, while in the Ohio and northward it is during the latter part of May and June. Among a large number of fish examined at Louisville, Kentucky, during the third week in May, only a few were fully ripe. At that time the fish were running up stream, swimming near the surface, and evidently seeking their spawning grounds, which are thought to be in the ponds and bayous along the river. At this time they are caught in seines lightly leaded so as to fish the surface. At other seasons the paddle-fish may be caught on set-lines. Not until quite recently has this fish been regarded as possess- ing any food value. True, the negroes of the South have long held it in high esteem along with the channel cat and the goujon, but it is only within the last four or five years that it has had a market value. It now finds a ready sale in the markets and at a fair price. Its flesh is firm, like that of the sturgeon, which it resembles also in flavor. Indeed, in some places the meat of the paddle-fish is smoked and sold as sturgeon. But the paddle-fish is valued chiefly, not for its flesh, but for the roe, which is made into caviar. The eggs are greenish-black in color, about three times the size of shad eggs, and very num- erous. They bring a high price and are said to make a good quality of caviar. The principal centres at which this industry is now carried on are along the Mississippi River in Mississippi and Tennessee, at Louisville, Kentucky and at Lake Pepin. Head, with opercular flap, more than half length of body; head, without flap, I length of body; spatula i to i total length, longest in the young. Dorsal fin with 50 to 60 rays; anal 50 to 65; ventral 45.- Opercular flap very long and pointed, nearly reaching the ventrals; premaxillary extending to beyond the small eye; gill- rakers very numerous and very slender; paddle broad; caudal fulcra 13 to 20, of moderate size; skin mostly quite smooth, a few small rhombic plates on the tail; ventrals near middle of body, the dorsal fin well behind them; anal larger than dorsal and more posterior, both somewhat falcate; fin-rays slender; a minute barbel at each spiracle; isthmus papillose in the young. Colour nearly uniform pale olivaceous or leaden-gray. THE STURGEONS Family II. Acipoiscridce On the white sand of the bottom Lay the monster, Mishe-Nahma, Lay the sturgeon, King of Fishes. — Hiawatha 's Fishing. Body long, subcylindrical, armed with 5 rows of long bucklers, each with a median carina which terminates in a spine, which sometimes becomes obsolete with age; a median dorsal series and a lateral and abdominal series on each side, the latter sometimes deciduous; between the rows the skin is rough with small irregular plates; head covered with bony plates joined by sutures; snout produced, depressed, conical, or spatulate; mouth small, inferior, protractile, with thickened lips; no teeth; 4 barbels in a transverse series on the lower side of the snout in front of the mouth; eyes small; nostrils large, double, in front of eyes; gills 4; an accessory opercular gill; gill-membranes united to the isthmus; no branchiostegals; fm-rays slender, all articulated; ventral fms with fulcra, many-rayed and behind middle of body; tail heterocercal, the lower caudal lobe developed, the upper covered with rhomboid scales. Large fishes of the seas and fresh waters of northern regions, most of the species being migratory. Two genera and 20 species are known, although more than 100 nominal species have been described. a. Spiracles present; snout subconic; Acipenser, 5 aa. Spiracles obsolete; snout subspatulate; Scaphirhynchtis, 13 GENUS ACIPENSER LINN^US The Sturgeons A small spiracle over each eye; snout subconic, more or less depressed below the level of the forehead; rows of bony shields distinct throughout, the tail not depressed nor mailed. Of the true sturgeons there are about 16 species, of which 5 occur in our waters. a. Plates between ventrals and anal (in small, in 2 rows, of 4 to 8 plates each ; iransmontanus, 5 White Sturgeon ; Oregon Sturgeon iia. Plates between ventrals and anal fin large, in i row, or in 2 rows anteriorly and 1 posteriorly, of i to 4 plates each. b. Space between dorsal and lateral shields with rather large stel- late plates in 5 to 10 series. c. Shields all roughly striated and ridged; colour decidedly greenish; medirostris, 7 cc. Shields not roughly striated nor ridged; colour grayish; stiirio, 8 hb. Space between dorsal and lateral shields with minute spinules in very many series. if. Last dorsal shield of moderate size, nirjre than \ the one before it; rubicundiis, 10 dd. Last dorsal shield very small, less than }, length of the one before it ; brevirostris, 12 White Sturgeon; Oregon Sturgeon Acipenser transmontamis (Richardson) Pacific Coast of America from Monterey, California, north to Alaska, ascending the Sacramento, Columbia and Fraser rivers in numbers in the spring. The white sturgeon, also known under several other names, among which may be mentioned Columbia River sturgeon, Sac- ramento sturgeon, and Pacific sturgeon, attains an enormous size and is one of our largest fishes. The largest examples of which we have record were 13 feet long and weighed 1,000 pounds. These were taken in Snake River, Idaho, whence numerous in- dividuals, weighing 100 to 630 pounds each, have been reported. Formerly very large sturgeon were not uncommon in the Col- umbia River, at Grays Harbor, and elsewhere on our Pacific Coast, but the average size of those caught now probably does not exceed 5 feet in length and 125 pounds in weight. An example, 1 1 feet 2 inches long, was 2 feet across the head, and another, 35 inches long, weighed 7>^ pounds. No careful study of the habits of this sturgeon has been made. Until recent years it was known to ascend the larger rivers of our Pacific Coast in great numbers, but, owing largely to destruc- tive methods of fishing in vogue for many years, the species is now not at all abundant. It is doubtless true that the white sturgeon, like most other sturgeons, is anadromous in its habits, living ordinarily either in salt water or in the river-mouths except at spawning-time, when White Sturgeon ; Oregon Sturgeon it ascends the larger riveis for considerable distances, but it is also true that some individuals remain in fresh water throughout the year. They have been taken in Snake River in Idaho at least from March to October inclusive. It is said that they appear at Upper Salmon Falls just after high water in the spring and remain until winter, if not longer. They are most plentiful in spring when the water is muddy. Very little has been recorded regarding the food of this stur- geon, though it doubtless consists largely of small animals and plants which are sucked in through the tube-like mouth. Small fish also seem to form no inconsiderable part of their diet. A young sturgeon, 25 inches long, had 11 minnows in its stomach, and in the stomach of larger examples were found several suck- ers, each about a foot in length. In the lower part of the Columbia River the sturgeon are said to feed largely on sardines, smelts, and other small fish, and lamprey eels are said to make excellent sturgeon bait. The season for the sturgeon fishery in the Columbia River extends from April to November. The fish are caught on set- lines, in pounds, and to some extent in gillnets. The usual price is 4 to 5 cents a pound dressed, while the roe brings 25 to 30 cents a pound. The fish are either frozen and shipped East or the flesh is smoked. The roe is made into caviar, the manufacture of which is explained in connection with the con- sideration of the common American sturgeon. Only a few years ago the sturgeon of the West Coast were regarded with great disfavour by the salmon fishermen, who were greatly annoyed by the sturgeon getting in their nets. As they had no commercial value, they were knocked in the head and thrown away. But about 1888 their value began to be appreci- ated, and since that year every effort has been made to obtain them. The catch, however, has never been large, and the stur- geon fisheries of the West Coast are now quite depleted. Head 4 in length; depth 7; dorsal rays 44 to 48; anal 28 to 30; dorsal plates 11 to 14; lateral ^6 to 50; ventral 9 to 12. Snout sharp in the young, becoming rather blunt and short in the adult in which it is considerably shorter than rest of head; barbels rather nearer tip of snout than mouth; gillrakers abo 26, comparatively long; first caudal fulcrum, above and below Green Sturgeon enlarged and granular; lower lobe of caudal rather sharp and long, nearly as long as upper. Colour, dark-grayish, scarcely olive-tinged, and without stripes. Green Sturgeon Acipenser medirosti-is (Ayres) The geographic range of the green sturgeon is approximately the same as that of the white sturgeon. It probably does not occur much south of San Francisco and is not common north of the Straits of Fuca. It is not so abundant as the white sturgeon and does not attain so large a size. Its habits do not differ materially from those of the white sturgeon. As a food-fish, however, it is of very inferior rank; indeed, it is commonly believed to be poisonous, but this belief is without any warrant. Its flesh, however, is dark, has a strong, disagreeable taste, and an unpleasant odour, and is regarded as quite inferior to that of the white sturgeon. In the Columbia River it is said to reach a length of 7 feet and a weight of 350 pounds, though the average size is considerably smaller. In the Sacramento they run from 35 to 150 pounds. This sturgeon is rarely found in fresh water, but is practi- cally limited to salt or brackish waters. It is seen about the river-mouths during August and September. There appear to be no regular fisheries for it, the flesh bring- ing only a nominal price, and the roe not being utilized at all. Head 4I; depth 7!; D. j,^ to 35; A. 22 to 28; dorsal plates 9 to 1 1 ; lateral 26 to 30; ventral 7 to 10. Shields with a strongly hooked spine, the surface very rough; space between lateral and dorsal rows of shields with about 5 series of stellate plates in- terspersed with smaller ones; last dorsal shield moderate, more than half as large as next to last; snout sharp in the young, becoming blunt with age, usually rather shorter than rest of head; barbels nearly midway between tip of snout and mouth; gillrak- ers scarcely longer than broad, about 17 in number; upper lobe of tail with some scattered plates; caudal fulcra not enlarged; lower caudal lobe short and blunt, scarcely more than half length of upper; anal fin nearly as long as dorsal and mostly behind it. Colour, olive-green, with an olive stripe on the median line of belly and one on each side above the ventral plates, these stripes ceasing opposite the vent. Common Sturgeon Common Sturgeon Acipenser stJirio (Linnaeus) The early records of this country make frequent mention of this sturgeon. William Penn and the botanist, Peter Kalm, were impressed by its large size and immense numbers, and make frequent reference to it in their notes and letters. As late as 1820 thousands of this huge fish might be seen in the lower Delaware. Not until about the middle of the century just closed did the sturgeon begin to receive attention as a food-fish. Mr. John N. Cobb states that nearly all the older fishermen of the Delaware River say that in their boyhood days few, except coloured people, ate sturgeon, though occasionally a family would fry a few steaks and serve them with cream. The roe was considered worthless except as bait for eels or perch, or to feed to the hogs. From 3 to 4 cents a pound were the best retail prices that could be obtained for the meat and usually only 2^ or 30 cents could be had for a whole fish. About 1870, however, the meat of the sturgeon began to command a Hfir price, since which time the price has greatly increased and the abundance of the sturgeon has decreased proportionally. In 1890 the average catch of stur- geon in the Delaware River was 60 per net; since that year the decrease has been gradual and rapid, until in 1899 the catch was only 8 fish to the net. The total catch for the Delaware River in 1890 amounted to 3,023,175 pounds, while in 1897 (the last year for which complete statistics are available), the amount was only 2,428,616 pounds. The taking of the roe for caviar began in this country as early as 1853, and the smoking of sturgeon was begun about four years later. In the sturgeon fishery gillnets are used exclusively, and these are always drifted. The fishermen go out 2 or 3 hours before slack water and put their nets overboard. As the sturgeon is a Common Sturgeon bottom feeder, the net is weighted so that it sinks, wooden buoys called "dabs" attached to the cork line by means of ropes being used to mark the location of the net. The fisher- men drift along behind their net, and when a buoy indicates that a fish has been captured, that section of the net is taken in, the fish hauled into the boat, and the net reset. The sturgeon is taken aboard by means of long-handled hooks of round iron. Though of great size, they struggle very little when gilled or when being brought into the boat, and are gen- erally rolled in like a log. The net is usually fished but once a day, and is taken up at slack water, the fishermen returning to camp with the ebb tide. By far the most valuable part of the sturgeon is the roe, from which is prepared the very expensive commercial product called caviar. The manner of preparation is, briefly, as follows: After the eggs have been removed from the fish, they are placed in large masses upon a stand, the top of which is formed of a small-meshed screen. On the under side is placed a zinc-lined trough, about i8 inches deep, 2 feet wide, and 4 feet long. The operator gently rubs the mass of eggs back and forth over the screen, whose mesh is just large enough to let the eggs drop through as they are separated from the enveloping membrane. They thus fall into the trough, from which they are drawn off into tubs through a sliding door in one end of the trough. After all the roe has been separated, the tub is removed, and a certain proportion of the best Luneburg salt is added and mixed with the eggs by careful stirring with the hands. This is the most delicate part of the whole process, and the best results can be obtained by that proficiency which comes from long experience. After adding the salt, the eggs at first become dry, but in 10 or 15 minutes the salt has drawn from the eggs their watery constituents and a copious brine is formed, which is poured off when the tub becomes too full. The salted eggs are then poured into fine-meshed sieves which hold about 10 pounds each, where they are allowed to drain for 8 to 20 hours. The eggs have now become the caviar of commerce, which is put in casks or cans of various sizes. The cask usually holds 135 pounds, the price of which has increased from $9 to $12 in 1885 to $105 in 1899, Head 3^; depth ^f; snout 2 in head; eye very small, about Lake Sturgeon H in head; D. 38; A. 27; dorsal plates 10 to 14; lateral 27 to 29; ventral 8 to 11. Shields not strongly striated; stellate plates small, in about 10 rows, with smaller ones interspersed; last dorsal shield more than half length of one before it; snout rather sharp, about as long as rest of head, becoming shorter and blunter with age; barbels short, not reaching mouth, inserted nearly midway between mouth and tip of snout; gillrakers small, slender, pointed, sparse, not longer than pupil; lower lobe of tail rather sharp; anal more than half as long as the dorsal fm and placed mostly below it; anterior rays of pectoral thickened. Olive gray, paler below. Maximum length about 10 feet; weight 500 pounds. This is the common sturgeon of our Atlantic Coast and coastal rivers, and ranges from Maine to South Carolina. It is most abundant in the Delaware and occurs in some numbers in all the larger streams of this coast, particularly in the Hudson, Susquehanna, and James. The species is migratory in habit,spending much time in salt water in or near the bays, and running up the rivers to brackish or fresh water at spawning time. Lake Sturgeon Acipenser riibicundus. (Le Sueur) The lake sturgeon is found as an inhabitant of the Great Lakes and the larger rivers connected therewith, Lake of the Woods, and many of the Canadian lakes. It was formerly abund- ant in the upper Mississippi Valley and is still found in some numbers in the Mississippi and in the lower portions of the Ohio, Missouri, and its other large tributaries. It is now perhaps most abundant in the Lake of the Woods, where the annual catch in 1894 on the United States side amounted to i,os9,267 pounds. Since then the decrease has been very rapid, until in 1899 the catch was only 197,033 pounds. Among the Great Lakes it is LAKE STURGEON, Acipenser rttbicundiis LAKE STURGEON, Acipcnscr riibictindus Lake Sturgeon most abundant in Lakes Erie and Ontario and least so in Lake Superior, whose deeper, colder water is less favourable for its growth than the more shallow, warmer water of the other lakes named. The lake sturgeon is the largest and one of the most important fishes of the Great Lakes, but it is now much less abundant than formerly. The average length of the examples now taken is less than 5 feet, though examples 6 feet long have been occasionally taken, and rarely individuals 9 feet in length have been reported. The average weight probably does not exceed 40 or 50 pounds, and about 100 pounds is the present maximum weight. It delights to frequent comparatively shoal water where, accord- ing to Milner, it feeds upon the smaller gasteropods, such as thin shelled Physa, Planorhis and Valvata, and the more firm Limnea and Melantho. Though it is primarily a bottom feeder, it is known that small fishes constitute a not inconsiderable portion of its food. On August 9, 1894, Professor A. J. Woolman examined the stom- achs of 55 sturgeon at Garden Island, Lake of the Woods, of which number 28 contained one or more crawfish, 6 had insect larvae, 6 had mollusks, and 22 were empty. Among the miscel- laneous objects found were a fish-egg in one, a fish-vertebra In another, a hazelnut in one, and gravel in eight! Head 3^; depth ^f; eye 9 to 10 in head; snout about 2; D. 35; A. 26] dorsal shields 11 to 16; lateral shields 30 to 39; ventral shields 8 to 11. Body rather elongate; snout slender and long in the young, becoming quite blunt with age, when it is considerably shorter than rest of head; shields large, rough and with strongly hooked spines in the young, becoming comparatively smooth in old individuals; skin with minute spinules in many series; ventral shields growing smaller with age, and finally decid- uous; anal fin | length of dorsal, beginning near its middle. II Short-nosed Sturgeon Short-nosed Sturgeon Acipenscr bi^evirostris (Le Sueur) The short-nosed sturgeon ranges from Cape Cod southward to Florida, and rarely it has been reported from the coast of Texas. It is more southern in its distribution than the common sturgeon. Though not abundant anywhere, it is taken most frequently from New Jersey southward. Examples are occasionally taken in Indian River and elsewhere on the east coast of Florida, and it is said to be not uncommon in the Suwanee and other rivers on the Gulf coast of that state. This sturgeon is much smaller than the common sturgeon. The largest examples seen by Le Sueur were only 33 inches long, while the largest obtained by Ryder was but 23 inches. It probably does not attain a greater length than 3 feet, and seems to be not much used for food. Its habits so far as known do not differ from those of the common species. Its colour alone is usually diagnostic. The young of the common sturgeon is never dark-coloured, while the characteristic dirty olive-green or brownish, with a shade of green in it, is always seen in the common sturgeon at all stages of its growth. Head about 4; depth 5^; eye 9 to 10 in head; snout about }\\ D. 41; A. 22\ dorsal shields 8 to 11; lateral 22 to }}\ ventral 6 to 9. Body elongate; snout very short and obtuse, I to ^ length of head; barbels short and simple; skin between rows of shields with many rows of prickle-like plates; shields rather large and smoothish; anal Tin about half size of dorsal and wholly below it. Colour, dusky or even dark above, paler below. Length 2 to 3 feet. GENUS SCAPHIRHYNCHUS MECKEL Snout broad, depressed, and shovel-shaped; caudal peduncle very long, strongly depressed, broader than deep; row^s of bony bucklers confluent below the dorsal fin, forming a complete coat of mail on the tail, which is produced in a long filament beyond the caudal fin, this longest in the young; gillrakers somewhat fan-shaped; no pseudobranchiae. The single species of this genus is an inhabitant of the United States, but others closely related, forming the genus Kessleria, are found in Central Asia. Shovel-nosed Sturgeon ScapliirJiynchus platoryjiclius (Rafinesque) The shovel-nosed sturgeon is known only from the upper and middle Mississippi Valley, it is probably most abundant in the larger streams of the Central States, especially in the Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. During the month of May it is caught in consider- able numbers at the Falls of the Ohio. At that time it is run- ning up stream and, as it then swims near the surface, the fishermen capture it by means of seines weighted to fish the top rather than the bottom. It is found associated with the paddle- fish and the Ohio shad, which run at the same time. The shovel- nose is also taken on set-lines baited with cut-bait or small fish. According to the books, this species reaches a length of 8 feet, but we have never seen an example even approximating that size. Numerous specimens examined by us in the Wabash and Ohio rivers did not show any exceeding 4 feet in total length. The average length of (ii individuals examined by us at Louisville was 2 feet and the average weight 2\ pounds. The largest example among these was a female, 28 inches long, and weighing 4^ pounds. Examples from the Wabash River, seen at 13 Shovel-nosed Sturgeon Terre Haute, were i| to 4 feet long and weighed only 3 to 12 pounds! The female shovel-nose, as is the case with all other stur- geons, is usually considerably larger than the male. The flesh finds a ready sale, it being cut into steaks or smoked. The roe, however, is the most valuable part of the fish, and, though the amount furnished by a single fish is not large, it is highly prized, it being made into caviar. Not until recently has it been utilized for this purpose, but nov/ the more progressive fishermen in the Mississippi Valley are careful to save the roe of both the shovel- nose and the paddle-fish, as well as that of the common lake sturgeon. Head 4; depth 8; snout i|-; eye very small; D. 32; A. 20; dorsal shields 15 to 20; lateral 41 to 46; ventral 11 to 13. Body elongate, tapering into a slender, depressed tail, which is extended beyond the caudal fin in a slender filament, very long in the young, but usually lost in the adult; bony shields opisthocen- trous (i. e., with the spine behind the middle), sharply keeled, the series confluent below the dorsal, obliterating the smaller plates between; 2 occipital plates, each with a short keel; a preocular spine and one at the posterior edge of the "shovel"; a few spines on the snout in the young; barbels nearer mouth than tip of snout; none of the fulcra enlarged; dorsal and anal small; the anal little more than half length of dorsal and entirely behind it; gillrakers small and lamellate, ending in 3 or 4 points. Colour, pale yellowish olive. 14 THE CATFISHES Family III. SilnridcE Body more or less elongate, naked or covered with bony plates; head with eight barbels, the base of the longest pair formed by the small or rudimentary maxillary ; margin of upper jaw formed by premaxillaries alone; opercle present, subopercle absent; dorsal fin short, above or in front of the ventrals; a small fatty or adipose fin back of the dorsal; front ray of dorsal and ventral spinous; air-bladder large, and connected with the organ of hearing by means of auditory ossicles ; lower pharyngeals separate. The family of catfishes is a large one, the total number of re- cognized genera being more than one hundred, and the number of species nearly one thousand. The majority of the species are fresh-water fishes, inhabiting the rivers of warmer countries, par- ticularly South America and Africa, being especially characteristic of the Amazon region; only a fev/ species are marine and they are mostly tropical. The total number of species known from North and Middle America is one hundred and eight, of which about one-third are salt-water species belonging to the genera Felichthys, Galeichthys, Sciadeichthys, Aspisior, Selenaspis, Netuma, Tachysurus and Cathorops, only the first two of which have species on the United States coast. In the fresh waters and on the coasts of southern Mexico, Central America, and south- ward, are about a score of species of the genera Rhamdia, Pimelo- della and Pimelodus, but none of them is of any importance either for food or as a game-fish. In the United States and Mexico we have about 34 species, only about a dozen of which are of sufficient importance to merit any consideration in the present work. Most of the others are small species known as stone-cats or mad-toms, be- longing to' the genera Noturus and Schilbeodes, characterized by the possession of a poison gland at the base of the pectoral spine, and by the connection of the adipose fin with the caudal. Of the 30 species of fresh-water catfishes occurring in the United States, all but 4 are confined to the Atlantic, Mississippi Valley and Gulf States. One species (Ictalurus meridionalis) is known only from the Rio Usumacinta, in Guatemala; another The Catfishes {Ameiiirus dugesi) is known from various parts of the great valley of the Rio Lerma in Mexico, a large stream which flows through Lake Chapala into the Pacific Ocean; another (Istlarius balsamis), is a very large catfish in the basin of the Rio Balsas, described from Puente de Ixtla, in Morelos, Mexico ; and another ( Ameiurus pricci), from San Bernardino Creek in southern Arizona, also tributary to the Pacitlc, No species of catfish is native to the fresh waters of the Pacific Coast of the United States, though 2 species, Ameiurus nebulosiis and Ameiurus catus, have been introduced from the East and have become very abundant in the Sacramento and San Joaquin. a. Adipose fin with its posterior margin free. b. Premaxillary band of teeth truncate behind, not produced back- ward at the outer angles. c. Supraoccipital bone continued backward from the nape, its notched tip receiving the bone at base of dorsal spine, so that a continuous bony bridge is formed under the skin from snout to base of dorsal; tail forked; Ictalurus, 16 cc. Supraoccipital not reaching interspinal bones, the bony bridge being more or less incomplete; Ameiurus, 23 bb. Premaxillary band of teeth with a lateral backward extension on each side ; Leptops, 3 1 aa. Adipose fin keel-like, adnate to the back and continuous with the caudal fin ; Noturus, 33 GENUS ICTALURUS RAFINESOUE The Channel Cats Body elongate, slender, compressed posteriorly ; head slender and conical; mouth small, terminal, the upper jaw the longer; teeth subulate, in a short band in each jaw; dorsal fin high, with one long spine and usually 6 rays ; adipose fin over posterior portion of anal, which is long, with 25 to 30 rays ; ventral fins^ each with one simple and 7 branched rays; pectorals, each with a stout spine, retrorse-serrate within, and about 9 rays; caudal fin long, deeply forked, the lobes pointed, the upper the longer. Colour, pale bluish, lead colour, or silvery. This genus is confined to the fresh waters of North America and contains four known species, all except one (I. meridionalis, 16 The Blue Cat which may be an Amehirtis, known only from the Rio Usumacinta in" southern Mexico) being important fooci-fishes. a. Anal fin very long, its base nearly one-third length of body, its rays 31 to 33 ; furcatus, 1 7 aa. Anal fin shorter, its rays 24 to 29. b. Cranial bones lighter, the supraoccipital long and narrow, its upper surface nearly smooth; pimctatiis, 21 bb. Cranial bones heavy, the supraoccipital broadly triangular, its upper surface finely grooved ; anguilla, 22 Blue Cat ; Mississippi Cat Ictalurns furcatus (Le Sueur) This is the largest and most important of all our catfishes. It is found throughout the Mississippi Valley and the Gulf States in all the larger streams and lakes and bayous. It is particularly abundant along the lower Mississippi, and in the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana, from one to two million pounds being shipped annually from the latter stream. It is not certainly known whether this fish is distinct from the large catfish of the Great Lakes. The blue cat attains an immense size. The largest specimen on record weighed 150 pounds, and was caught in the Mississippi at St. Louis. Examples weighing 80 to 100 pounds have not been infrequent Very large individuals are not often seen now, however. Of 374 examples weighed and about 2,000 others examined at Morgan City, Louisiana, in 1897, the largest (a ripe female) weighed 35 pounds, but the average weight was 17 The Blue Cat only a few pounds. The species reaches a maximum length of five feet. The most important fishery for the blue cat is in the Atcha- falaya River, and the industry centres chietly at Morgan City. The methods of the fishery are interesting and merit a brief de- scription. Ordinarily the fishing season extends from September to May, though some fishing may continue throughout the year. Practically all the fishing is done with "trot lines" and "brush lines." The length of the former may vary from a few rods to more than a mile, depending upon the character of the body of water in which it is set. The snoods are usually i8 inches long, and placed 3 feet apart. All river fishing during fall and winter is done at the bottom, while lake fishing is at the surface. The bait used is classed as "live bait" and "cut bait," the former consisting chiefly of fish such as the hickory shad, mooneye, etc., and crawfish. The "shad" are the best bait, and 100 of them are said to be worth 200 or 300 crawfish. Though .the crawfish will live longer on the hook, the "shad" is more tempting. "Cut bait" consists of larger examples of these and other fishes cut into the proper size. Eels are said to make ex- cellent cut bait, but are hard to get. Live bait is most used from September to November, inclusive, November being the best month. It is preferred to cut bait at any time, but can be obtained in quantity only in the fall. Live bait is used, however, whenever it can be gotten, and occasionally a fisherman is fortunate enough to secure good supplies during the spring fishing. These fish are influenced in their movements by the tem- perature of the water. During the winter they come farther down the river where the water is warmest, and in the summer they run farther up stream or into deeper water. During the spring rise in the Mississippi hundreds of square miles of the adjacent country become flooded, and then the catfish leave the rivers, lakes and bayous, and "take to the woods." Here the fishermen follow them, and "woods" or "swamp" fishing is resorted to. Short "brush" lines with single hooks are tied to limbs of trees here and there through the forest, in such a way as to allow the hook to hang about six inches under water. The trees selected are usually those along the edges of the "float" roads, and, that he may readily find his lines again, the fisherman ties a white rag to each tree to which he has attached a line. The Blue Cat The lines are visited daily, or as often as practicable, and the fish are placed in a live-box, where they are kept until the tug- boats from Morgan City make their regular collecting trips. Then they are transferred to the very large live-boxes or cars carried in tow by the tugs, and are taken to Morgan City, where the fish are dressed, put in barrels with ice, and shipped to the retailers in many States of the Union. In spite of popular prejudice to the contrary, the flesh of this catfish is of excellent quality, firm and flaky, of very delicious flavour, nutritious in a high degree, and always commanding a fair price. Of all the catfishes it is the one most deserving of cultiva- tion and popular favour, and which could with profit be introduced into other countries. This, however, would probably not meet with the approval of Punch, if we may judge by the following protest printed in that periodical, apropos the proposed introduction of the catfish into England. " Oh, do not bring the Catfish here! The Catfish is a name 1 fear. Oh, spare each stream and spring. The Kennet swift, the Wandle clear. The lake, the loch, the broad, the mere, From that detested thing! " The Catfish is a hideous beast, A bottom-feeder that doth feast Upon unholy bait; He's no addition to your meal. He's rather richer than the eel; And ranker than the skate. " His face is broad, and flat, and glum; He's like some monstrous miller's thumb; He's bearded like the pard. Beholding him the grayling flee. The trout take refuge in the sea. The gudgeons go on guard. " He grows into a startling size; The British matron 'twould surprise And raise her burninsf blush The Blue Cat To see white catfish as large as man, Through what the bards call 'water wan,' Come with an ugly rush! " They say the Catfish climbs the trees. And robs the roosts, and down the breeze Prolongs his catterwaul. Oh, leave him in his western flood Where the Mississippi churns the mud; l)on"t bring him here at all! " The spawning season of the blue cat in Louisiana is during the months of April and May. Out of 374 fish examined at Morgan City, Louisiana, April 22-24, more than 94 per cent, were spent fish or fish ready to spawn. In Louisiana this, the most valuable of all our catfishes, is known as the blue cat or poisson bleu. Elsewhere in the Mississippi Valley it is the Mississippi cat, the great forktailed cat 01 chucklehead cat. Whether the names Florida cat, flannel- mouth cat, etc., apply to this species is not certain, as the blue cat and the large northern catfish (Ameiurus, lacustris) have not been clearly differentiated. Head 4 to \\ in length of body ; depth 4 to 5; D.I, 6; A. 32 ; distance from tip of snout to origin of dorsal fin 2| in body; greatest width of head 1^ in its length; interorbital width 2, equalling width of mouth ; maxillary barbel not reaching beyond head ; humeral process about \ length of pectoral spine; anal base nearly \ longer than head, or \ length of body ; head small; mouth narrow; eye small, wholly anterior, the middle of the head being behind its posterior margin; dorsal a little nearer snout than adipose fin; caudal deeply forked, the upper lobe usually longer and narrower than the lower. Colour, dull olivaceous blue 01 slaty, pale or whitish below, without spots anywhere; barbels usually the colour of the body, rarely black. The Channel Cat ,<^.<.i..j.,K^«JlfJiiP(ilili|]l«lMIUU|U««MP'»|im