244 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



with which it is found more frequently in company than are 

 any other two species of this entire family. 



It has been taken, to the northward, from Lakes Huron, 

 Erie and Ontario, from the St. l^awrence River and Lake- 

 Champlain, and from northwestern streams and lakes as far 

 as Minnesota and South Dakota. It ranges southward to the 

 James and the Chattaoochee rivers on the Atlantic coast, to 

 the Alabama and the Tombigbee in the Gulf district, and west- 

 ward to the Des Moines and Kansas rivers. It is said by Jordan 

 and Evermann to occur also in Louisiana and in Texas. 



According to Dr. Jordan, it spawns in spring, constructing 

 a nest on a gravel bed where the water is moderately swift, or 

 on a bar if in a lake, the parent fish defending the nest with 

 great vigor. Spent females were taken by us at Havana June 26. 



''This species," says Jordan, ''is pre-eminently^ a boy's 

 fish, though it is by no means despised by anglers of maturer 

 years. * * * * As a game-fish it is rather disappointing. 

 It takes the hook with vim and energy, and begins a most 

 vigorous fight which, however, it usually fails to keep up. It 

 can usually be caught at any season and at any time of day; 

 good fishing may be had even at night. Any kind of bait may 

 be used, but small minnows, white grubs, and angleworms are 

 best. It will take the trolling spoon quite readily, and the 

 spinner and the bucktail also are successful lures. Minnows 

 may be used either in still-fishing or in trolling. During the 

 summer grasshoppers are a good bait, and pieces of fresh-water 

 mussel or yellow perch are excellent. In the fall still-fishing with 

 small minnows usually meets with success. Casting with the 

 artificial fly is not a common method for catching the rock bass, 

 yet we have had many good rises and have taken some fine ex- 

 amples in that way; we have also taken it on the artificial frog. 

 Small crawfish also are a tempting bait." 



As a pan-fish it is above the average but not among the 

 best, its flesh being somewhat soft and having a mudd^^ flavor. 

 The fish is taken in rather cool clear water. 



It feeds, so far as we know, mainly on insects and small 

 crustaceans; with a moderate allowance of fishes. Its food, 

 however, has not been sufficiently studied to give us a fair 

 average for the species. 



The rock bass has been used to some extent successfull}'^ as 

 a fish for artificial ponds, and it has been successfully introduced 

 into the waters of the Pacific states. 



