Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1917-05-24
Trout. Pike, Pickerel Other FBh

EOu ING TIC
The 1shs hatchery at the outlet 81
Lake Karnpieska has been doing sort
Of ssland oflce" BUSINESS this spring,
notwithstanding climatic conditions
have been unfavorable for Matching,
It Is estimated that the hatchery
has handled from ten to twelve mil.
lion pike eggs, to say nothing 81 the
spawn of other varieties. Out of the
ten to twelve million pike eggs. tits
thought that perhaps eight million
fish havegbeen Matched.
a pike a couple of days old, for In
stance, averages from a quarter OF an
inch to three-eights of an inch in
length, Millions Of these little Ash
have been sci in the tanks at the
hatchery this season-although they
can scarcely be g unless scooped
up in tin vessels and placed in the
rays Of light entering the doors or
windows.
Pike and Pickerei Growth.
Many people have often wondered
how fast . fish grows anyway-how
large it becomes in the course of 4
given period Of time. How large
would a two-year-old pike ordinarily
be? That's what a lot of people would
like to know.
Mr.. Frank Purcell, in charge 70
the hatchery, talked ente~rtainingly
the other day to a representative or
The Saturday News, concerning fish
and their habits and their develop
ment.
Much depends" said Mr.. Purcell.
with regard to the environments.
Much also depends upon the partic-
ular kind Of fish and the particular
variety Of a given species.
Unless n knows the particular
variety Of fish and the character OF
the waters it inhabits. 1t would be i'm
possible to estimate with any degree
of accuracy the weight Of a fish at 3
given age.
The Pickerel is a Pike.
Take your Lake Kampeska pike
and pickerel, such a pickerel as that,
for instance" said he, continuing,
pointing to a pickerel in the glass
tank. Here in your lake. where con
Iditions ! favorable for its growth,
such a fish would weigh a pound or SO
at two years of age.
speak of the pickerel because
after July 1 it will be known as a
game fish under our state laws, al
Though heretofore it has not been SO
considered. For my part / don't un.
derstand why 1t was ever thought to
be other than a game fish. AS a mat.
ter of fact. it is a species Of pike, and
to my way of thinking its flesh is
about as palatable as that of youl
Lake Kampeska pike. It's growth is
fully equal to that Of what you cal
your pike. if not at a greater ratio,
and, as I view it, it should always
have been considered a game fish. !
think you will agree with me thai
when hooked it puts up a sitter fght
than the pike.
Trout in the Lake.
$50, when you hook a pickerel or s
pike weighing around a pound or .
pound and a half, up to two pounds
you may figure that it is from two K
three years of age.
Then take a trout, whose develop
ment in weight is not equal. as a rule
to that Of the pickerel or the pike
We have recently put some Of the
trout into Lake Kampeska and also
into Willow Creek, which flows easi
Of your city.
Nov, surprising conditions in the
creek to be favorable to the develop
ment Of trout, and surprising also con
ditions in the lake to be about al
favorable, the difference In the char
acter considered, the lake trout VIII
deyelop much faster than the stream
trout.
That Is to say, the trout Ia tho
stream viii have to work harder Il
maintain themselves than those in The