The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-05


cfes.
Executive Agent Fullerton stated
'eiuay lHat the rivers and lakes of the
state were never more abundantly
stocked with all species of game fish
IMAM at present, and by another wear
some line fishing could be had in lakes
commonly reputed to be "fshed out"
Mr.. Fullerton's family at the fish
hatchery is none the less interesting
even If a large number of the pueriie
nnn1es have been recently shipped
away for distribution.
Ihose,' said Mr.. Fullerton, direct
ing the attention of the reporter TO q
box filled with little wigglers. care
black bass, and you will observe one
there in the act of devouring a compan
ION who is just as big as he is. You
see,, continued Mr.. Fullerton, 1--WE have
10 snip them away very soon after thew
are Matched out or they Will commence
to eat each other until eventually there
would only be one fish left
There are, four species of trout in
that pond, rainbow, Loeb Lomond
trout, California trout and our natural
speckled trout The speckled species
Is the only Minnesota fish, the rest be-
ing all imported
has not at all been satisfactory. We
started to breed them, which was easy
enough some years ago., but we have
very little demand for them, and their
meat Is no better than a catfish. They
cont bite and are anything but a game
rlsh. For those reasons, of late years
we have made no effort to propa gate
the species.
Catfish? Well, should say so. WHY.
we put a lot Of young ones in the Mis-
s1ss1ppi above st. Paul, some time ago
and friend of mine was fishing off the
river bank and he hooked one of these
olo fellows Of twenty-five pounds or
more. and it simply pulled him in and
they had terrible time getting the old
boy landed.
Yes, the pickerel is a second cousin
to the pike, yet they don't claim rela-
tlCnshlp, as while the pike is much
sought AFTER, the pickerel, on the other
hand, can be speared or hooked at any
Time or the year, and he has little as
suraEce of his life during the fishing
season."
The commission believes that pike are
the best fish for food purposes which
1ntabit our waters, that is of the more
common fish, while the pickerel. al
though undoubtedly coming from the
same ancestry way back, is not given
any attention. The pickerel will take
with one bite a fish about half as large
as he is, and be ready for another
within few hours.
But speaking again of catfish. it is
told by some of the old settlers that
the catfish used to be so thick in the
river that they would block the passage
OF the steamboats, coming up the river.
and in that way they secured their
name, channel CATS
That would not seem unlikely when
you come to think about it, for on Pike
river, up north of Tower, the pike run
So thick in the spring of the year that
you can walk across the river on their
packs. Some people will put me down
for a storyteller, but this is a fact.
We had half-dozen men with us when
up there last spring, and they all saw
the same thing.
The muskelonge is a fine fish, and I
only wish there were more of them in
our waters. They grow rapidly and
very large, and are an exceedingly fine
fish. We have our hands full, however.
with the black bass, pike and trout.
We are making a special effort this
year to stock the trout streams. MANY
fthem on the north shore of Lake Su-
per1or have been pretty well fshed out.
and also some down in Southern Min
nesota. The commission will make an
effort to replenish these running
streams"