Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1858-06-03

HculC TO cure. IIckerel are particularly
fond of frogs as food, but the frog always
makes battle when the pickerel approach,
and will sometimes mount upon his head,
where they become very troublesome Gus
toners, placing their foreclaws in the cor
ner of each eye, and clinging with their
hind legs. If this position is well taken
it is utterly impossible for the pickerel to
disencamber himself, until the frog is will
ling to depart, which he usually consents to
do when the fish approaches near enough
to the shore to permit him to leap upon it,
| Pickerel grow faster than any other fish in
my ponds, making eight inches the first
year, ten the second, fourteen the third,
and twenty the fourth. I am convinced
that an acre pond, we'll stocked with pick
erel would yield more profit than a ten acre
lot under ordinary cultivation. They are
remarkably tenacious Of life, and live
long time after being taken from the water
and will snap at any object presented. 1t
attains great age and immense size if un-
molested and well fed.
TIE YELLOW PERCH (Perca FhUcsccns)
is a bold fish Of prey, and like the pickerel
has large mouth, well filed with teeth,
hog back, armed with two strong, sharp
! fms, which make him formidable prey
! for other fish. His outer covering consists
of hard, thick scales. Like the pickerel
he will cat his own progeny. As food he
is considered more wholesome than any
other fish His growth is slow, and he
breeds but once year. | have noticed
one remarkable popularity connected with
this fish, and that is that if dozen are
found in hole, they will all bite, one after
the other, and allow themselves to be
caught, being, like the most men, unwil-
ling to receive the experience of their com
panions They are grcgarious during
nearly the whole year, and grow under
favorable auspices to large size and ele-
CANT proportions. This fish is universally
known throughout Europe and this country,
and the remarkable manner in which its
eggs have been distributed has led to curious
! hypothesis. Some years since constructed
a pond but did not put any fish in it, and
you may imagine my surprise when | found
therein perch, sun-fsh, eels, bullheads,
sinners, trout and sea-bass, without my
1 agency, and all within two years, Where
did they come from? Birds were the un-
doubted agents, and it is to them Lake Erie
is indebted for the herring, striped rock
and white sea-bass, and other fine fish.
They have distributed the eel throughout
the known world, and frequently carry
them alive, as it is well known that the
gastric juice of birds is not sufficiently
strong TO destroy the life of this serpent
fish
| have known perch to die in my pond
from the bursting of their sound or air
bladders, caused by lettering in shallow wa
ter for prey during an intensely hot day
in August, and have in some instances
saved their lives, when the bladder pro
truded from their mouths, by plunging
them in cold water, the affect Of which was
sudden condensation of the air
THE STRIPED BASS (Perca Lahar) is
a sea fish chiefly found near the mouths Of
rivers and arms of the sea, were they re-
main more constantly than any other ocean
: fish They are readily known from the
fact that they have eight parallel lines on
the sides, like narrow tape; the scales are
very large and lustrous, resembling metal ;
the eyes are white, head long, and under
jaw projects beyond the upper; it is beyond
doubt the most beautiful of all our native
fishes. [ have been enabled, after many
fruitless attempts, to breed this magnlh-
cent fish in fresh water, where they have
now became abundant; he is bold biting
fish, except in winter, when he becomes
very abstemious, and will only bite in the
middle of the day, when the weather is
moderate, and continues to take the hook
: until the mulberry trees blossom. The
| day before you intend to fish on bass, sink
} a glass bottle in the vicinity of their haunts
} with small fish in it, covered with piece
, of pierced parchment or linen cloth this
will attract them in large numbers, and by
dropping your line in its vicinity, baitec
with similar small fish, you may take many
t of them, They spawn throughout March
the female followed by the male, opens I
Y furrow in the gravel, and deposits he