. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. Fishing for suckers. Photo by Verne THE COMMON SUCKER Teacher's Story 'E who loves to peer dowii into the depths of still waters, often sees upon the sandy, muddy or rocky bottom several long, wedge-shaped sticks lying at various angles one to another. But if he thrust down a real stick, behold, these inert, water-logged sticks move off deftly! And then he knows that they are suckers. He may drop a hook baited with a worm in front of the nose of one, and if he waits long enou
. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. Fishing for suckers. Photo by Verne THE COMMON SUCKER Teacher's Story 'E who loves to peer dowii into the depths of still waters, often sees upon the sandy, muddy or rocky bottom several long, wedge-shaped sticks lying at various angles one to another. But if he thrust down a real stick, behold, these inert, water-logged sticks move off deftly! And then he knows that they are suckers. He may drop a hook baited with a worm in front of the nose of one, and if he waits long enough before he pulls up he may catch this fish, not by its gills but by the pit of its stomach; for it not only swallows'", the hook com- pletely but tries to digest it along with the worm. Its food is made up of soft-bodied insects and other small water creatures; it is also a mud eater and manages to make a digestive selection from the organic material of silt. For this latter reason, it is not a desirable food fish although its fles^ varies in flavor with the locality where it is found. The suckers taken along the rocky shores of Cayuga Lake are fairly palatable, while those taken in the mud of the Cayuga Inlet are very in- ferior in flavor and often uneatable. Seen from above, the sucker is wedge-shaped, being widest at the eyes; seen from the side it has a flat lower surface and an ungracefully rounded contour above which tapers only slightly toward the tail. The profile of the face gives the impression of a Roman nose. The young specimens have an irregular scale-mosaic pattern of olive-green blotches on a paler ground color, while the old ones are quite brown above and on the sides. The suckers differ from most other fishes in having the markings of the back extend down the sides almost to the belly. This is a help in concealing the fish, since its sides show from above quite as distinctly as its back. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page image
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