The sun., 1919-05-04
PIKE PERCH SEASON
OPENS ON SATURDAY
Wall Eye, While Not a Spec
tacular Fighter Takes Bait
With a Wallop.
BOTTOM FEEDING FISH
Travels in Schools; Likes
Channels, Dams, Pools
and Log Jams.
BOTTOM FEEDING FISH
BY DIXIE CARROLL.

The season opens in New York State
for pike perch twall eye piket, CON-
monty called pike and yellow pike, next
Saturday. To be retained fish should be
one foot in length, otherwise they should
be returned to the waters uninJured. The
way to do this is to wet the hands be
fore removing the fish from the hook
For an accommodating cuss we gotta
tip the kelly to the wall eye pike; when
most of the other game fins are of
the feed and hard to coax with any old
bait, the wall eye Is on the Job, being q
good fellow and taking the bait or lure
with a wallop.
During July and August we find him
overanxious to come in out Of the wet
and for that one little thing We thank
him. Although he does not make the
nor the snappy, swishing, leaping fight
OF the bass he has enough kick in his
makeup to give US a good run for our
money.
He is naturally a bottom fish and you
have to go down to that region to get
him. II you hook n good sized wall eye
you cannot work him in fast, as he has
q series of tugs and pulls that sure put
a strain on the tackle.
Runs Straight to Bottom.
His greatest little trick is to make g
| straight run to the bottom when hooked
and after you bring him to boatside ant
| think you about have him ready for tn,
| net. he makes another grandstand play
and goes right down to the bottom
| again.
He will repeat this trick a number o
| na do old q
| work him up to the surface again, anC
you can figure that he will make
pulling fight on the way up.
The wall eye Is found in nearly al
/ waters and Is great old breeder. bu
he's travelling under an assumed name
as his right moniker is pike-perch
However, he has been called wall ey
pike so long that we Just let him rid
under that label
| In fact he has a great variety o
names. being known in some localitie
as the salmon, jack. Jack salmon, glas
eye pike and blue pike. These name
were probably tackled on TO him be
cause he Is such a rover and Away
cumming around for feed
| In the feeding line he has all tn
other fish backed of the board. II
feeds day and night and has an awfu
appetite. He's so darned hungry a
times that he just sits in with his ow,
| family and eats up n few Of his children
which Is going some. even for a fish.
Father of n Hundred Thousand.
The fact that the wall eye is a grea
old family producer is the reason h
Is with US in a goodly number in mos
streams and lakes. After he father
a family OF hundred thousand husk
young pikere. and the little fellows hav
learned to wag their tails. he figure
that his duty Is performed and h
strikes for other waters. leaving tn
Youngsters to shift for themselves.
He never travels alone. but Joins 1
| with a bunch of other rowing wall eye
AMI thereafter travels in a school. IL
probably does this because he think
that the other fellows NAV locate
feeding ground and he would MISS It.
For this little reason, old man. whe
you land a wall eye in n bay or poo
Just keep on fishing thereabouts, for it's
struck a school of feeding fish, and 20
can get a we'll filled strlnger IL 70
play close to them.
Where you find him in numbers on
day does not mean that you will fin
him there the next, as he fits aroun
without a route or schedule.
In no matter what depth OF water h
Is in you will always find him bottoi
feeding. and he Is a clean cut feeder
making his meals on fish as n generG
thing. although he also likes a crawtis
or frog now and then. but his naturs
food Is minnow and pan fish.
To his clean diet we can blame IN
sweet taste of the old rascal whe
Drowned to a turn in q spider.
Haunts of Pike Perch.