THE FISHES OF THE EAST ATLA^sTIC COAST. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Striped Bass. — Yvo:-k:isii. —Boccus lineatus. — Gill. 



No similiar stretch of coast in the world is as plentifully supplied 

 with fish life as the eastern seaboard of the United States. From 

 the tepid waters of Florida, all along up to the icy waves washing 

 the Banks, myriads of fish exist, either to give pleasure to the 

 angler or profit to the fisherman. At the head of the list stands the 

 striped bass. Every wielder of the rod would put him there will- 

 ingly enough, even if the authority of Genio C. Scott and Frank 

 Forester did not sanction it. The former is more enthusiastic over 

 its many virtues as a game fish than he is over any other creature 

 that wears scales, either of the fresh or salt waters. The latter ranks 

 the striped bass second only to the salmon, dividing the honors per- 

 haps with the black bass of the St. Lawrence. 



The striped bass — Boccus lineattcs — Gill, is known south of New 

 York as the rock-fish, from its habit, probably, of swimming among 

 the boulders of a rapid tide-way, nosing about for some dainty morsel 

 with which to satisfy his appetite. To the ordinary gazer of the 

 stalls, the striped bass would appear as a silvery fish marked with 

 lateral black lines and possessed of a capacious mouth well supplied 

 with teeth; but such a description will not answer the requirements 

 of the scientific as well as practical angler of to-day. 



The body of the striped bass is long and symmetrical, slightly 

 humped over the shoulder, and marked horizontally by seven or 



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