Chapter XVII: The Common Pickerel

_Esox Reticulatus._--These fish, which are sometimes called by the learned, and none others, Pike, have on their sides a network of dark lines upon a yellowish ground, and are named by naturalists from this peculiarity. The lines are sometimes longitudinal, and but little reticulated. The fin-rays are--

Dorsal 18; Pectoral 16; Ventral 10; Anal 14; Caudal 19-7/7. Or, according to Agassiz--

D. 20; P. 16; V. 10; A. 20; C. 18.

This fish rarely exceeds ten pounds in weight, although he has been said to attain fifteen; but in these instances has probably been confounded with the Northern Pickerel. He abounds all through the northern States, and is emphatically the _Pickerel_, when the word is used without other qualification. The darker, more sluggish and weedy the water, the more he likes it; old roots, decayed trees and a muddy bottom are his delight, and by his ferocity not a few ponds have been depopulated of superior fish. Among a certain class of fishermen he is a favorite, though utterly worthless for the table or as sport, and the little enterprise our farmers have shown has been in introducing this despicable fish into good waters, where, in consequence of his rapid increase and voracious habits, he has soon exterminated all other varieties. Even excellent trout ponds have been treated in this way.

The largest of these fish within my range of information, are taken in Long Pond, New Jersey, a large pond, originally a natural lake, and rendered more extensive by damming. The head-waters are filled with dead trees, amid the roots of which pickerel hide and thrive. There they are said to attain ten pounds, and often exceed five. Generally, however, five is the limit, and many more are taken that weigh not over three. These fish are not found in the waters of Canada, and are usually captured with live or dead bait, or a piece of pork, although in favorable water they would undoubtedly take the spoon, like their congeners of the north. Their habits are similar to those of the northern pickerel and mascallonge.