THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. ^ 289 



Oti (he habits of the Black Bass of the Ohio, (Gnjstcsfasciaius.) 



BY JOHN EOFF, ESQ., OF WHEELING- 



•'On my return from a small hunting expedition to the head waters 

 of Sand creek, Jackson County, Virginia, I Ibund your kind letter of No- 

 vember 26 ; and, in order to comply best with your wishes and views 

 therein expressed, I will give you such a description of one particular 

 species of iish, (which I consider the most valuable, on account of their 

 quality as a pan-fish and their quantity,) in our western streams, viz : 

 the bass, (called by the early settlers in the western country, yellow, 

 or black perch). They are a remarkably active and voracious fish, with 

 a large and hard mouth, and vary in size, according to their age, from 

 three quarters of a pound to three pounds, and occasionally have been 

 caught to weigh as high as six pounds or seven pounds. Their food, 

 when small, appears to be all kinds of insects, (flies, worms, &c.); 

 when larger, though not entirely leaving oft^ their earlier habits, their 

 principal food is the smaller fish of other kinds. In the winter season 

 they retire to deep and still water, and apparently hide under rocksy 

 logs, &c., and remain there until the 1st of April, when they come out 

 and begin to ascend the streams, apparently to find a convenient place 

 for spawning, which commences about the 15th of" May, varying some 

 little according to the warmth of the season, &c. When that event is 

 about taking place, they appear to separate into pairs, male and female, 

 and hunt out some retired place, or nook, where the water is about 

 eighteen inches deep, and still, but adjoining deeper water, to which they 

 can escape if alarmed; they there commence making their nests, 

 that is, washing all the mud, &c., off the bottom, so as to leave it per- 

 fectly clean, in a circular form, the diameter of the circle (or nest) being 

 about twice the length of the fish; after which the female begins de- 

 positing her eggs, which appear to become glued to the bottom, or small 

 stones, in rows, after the deposit has taken place. She remains night 

 and day, either on her nest, or swimming round about it, apparently 

 guarding the eggs, and driving every other smaller fish away. This 

 watching or guarding continues until the eggs are what is called 

 hatched, which occurs in from eight to ten days, according to the tem- 

 perature of the water. The young fish at first remain near the bottom, 

 I and appear like a gauze veil floating. In two or three days they grad- 

 ually rise and spread, the old one leaves them, they separate, and each 

 one shifts for itself, i. e., hides under leaves, small sticks, and stones. 

 I, as yet, have had no positive means of determining the precise time 

 for a young bass to arrive at maturity, but suppose it to be three years, 

 from the following facts. In the spring of the year (April) you may 

 I find large numbers of young bass about two or two and a half inches in 

 f i length, rather in company with other minnows ; in the following autumn 

 (i and fall of the year you will find very few of that size, but congrega- 

 ting together, and alone you will find a number from three to four inches 

 in length; while during the same fall you may catch young bass of 

 about eight inches long, with the formation of the 3'oung egg within 

 them, preparatory for spawning the following spring. In the spawn- 

 Mis. Doc. 24 19 



