19th century fishing — Shark in Lake George?

A shark in Lake George? Now that’s a whale of a fish tale.

“Mr. H. J. Finch recently landed a pickerel weighing nine-and-one-half pounds,” The Lake George Mirror reported on July 20, 1895. “Wint Finkel, on the same day, caught one of those Lake George sharks that weighed eight-and-a-half pounds.”

In other 1895 fishing news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

• “John R. Fish, Station Agent at Sandy Hill, spent yesterday at Glen Lake as a guest of Assistant Superintendent H. C. North of the Delaware and Hudson Rail Road and E. N. North, Station Agent at Fort Edward,” The Morning Star reported on Aug. 3. “They caught thirty-two bass weighing twenty-five pounds. One of the bass weighed a pound and a half. A one-pound pickerel was also caught.”
• “Mr. and Mrs. G. B. McGinley of Philadelphia, who are guests of the Central House, caught a pickerel that weighed sixteen and none-quarter Friday last,” the Lake George correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Aug. 12. “They have been very successful with rod and line, but this is the best catch they have made thus far.”
• “D. P. Carter and Adam Clute brought in a goodly catch of fish from South Bay (Whitehall) yesterday,” the Fort Ann correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Aug. 6. “Their string would have been larger had it not been for a hole in the bag they used as a receptacle.”
• “Joseph Hall of this village (Glens Falls) and M. M. Terry of Brooklyn went on Monday to Whitehall and returned yesterday morning with thirty-eight pickerel and eight nice bass which they caught in Lake Champlain,” The Morning Star reported on Aug. 7.
• “Deliverance Rogers had great success in inducing the finny tribe in taking his bait while in camp last week at Lake St. Catherine,” The Granville Sentinel reported on Aug. 9. “His table was bountifully supplied with splendid fish during their entire stay, and quite a surplus was brought home and distributed among his neighbors.”
• “Milo J. Gray of the village (Glens Falls) and Alfred Morris of Baker’s Falls returned yesterday morning from a fishing trip to Lake Champlain,” The Morning Star reported on Aug. 12. “They drove from Baker’s Falls on Sunday morning, and on their way up the basket of fish and their other traps fell out of the wagon, the tailgate having been left unfastened.”
• “Mrs. A. W. Sheldon of Fort Ann caught a twelve-pound pickerel in front of the Mansion House, Lake George, on Saturday,” The Morning Star reported on Aug. 14.

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