And their Distribution in the liJaters of tl)e State of New ^orl^. 



'"I ■^ H E R E are two species of black bass, tb.e small mouth, with the Latin name 



I Microptcriis doloiiiicii, sometimes called the "true black bass ; " and the large 



mouth, M. saliiwidcs, improperly called "Oswego" bass. Both species are 



found in the waters of the State. The small mouth loves clear water, gravel or rock 



bottom, and the large mouth as a rule is fond of weeds and tastes and smells of the 



muck. As to their game qualities, there is an honest difTerence of opinion, but it 



is safe to say that in this latitude the small mouth is the gamer fish, for he fights 



like a bulldog to his death, while the other fish does all his hard fighting in the 



first few rushes after he feels the hook. At times the large mouth will rise to the 



fly more readily than his cousin, the small mouth, but there are no hard and fast 



rules to describe the proper conditions for successful fishing for either ai the species 



at all times. The fly or the bait that may lure black bass one day may be ignored 



the day following when all conditions of wind and water seem to be similar. In a 



word, the black bass is a capricious fish, and in what follows there will be no 



attempt to separate the species, but under the general title of "Black Bass," I will 



explain how the fish came into the waters of the State, show its distribution in part 



and touch upon some of its habits and peculiarities. 



In the beginning of this century there were no black bass in any of the interior 



waters of the State of New York. Nature ordains most things wisely. Because man 



by artificial means hatches from ninety-five to ninet\'-eight per cent, of the eggs of 



many species of fishes, when by natural processes not more than one or two per cent. 



of the same kind of eggs are hatched, it does not follow that man can improve upon 



nature in all things pertaining to fishes. Nature intended the black bass for large 



bodies of water — waters that afTord wide range and abundant pasturage, extensive 



shoals and bars for breeding, massed boulders for hibernating, gravel for propagating 



their chief food, the crayfish; grasses and moss to harbor small Crustacea, etc. I have 



not mentioned "minnows" or other small fish as an essential food for black bass, 



for, contrary to general belief, black bass are not piscivorous fish. They have 



villiform or brush-like teeth, not cardiform teeth like the pike or pickerel which is a 



piscivorous fish. 



They will eat minnows, to be sure, but they are not their chief diet, as 



is the crayfish, when they are provided in the water. In small waters, black bass 

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