RUFFE AND BASS 
Dennen 
Ruffe is not a very interesting species, but its flesh is 
quite good eating, although it used to annoy me (the fish 
not the flesh) in days gone by when I used to catch 
scores of Daddy-Ruffe’s, as we boys called them, and 
rarely anything else. Spawning takes place in early 
Spring, when the fish make their way to weedy margins 
or shallows. It has acquired its name because of the 
roughness of the scales, but it is difficult to throw any 
light on the alternative name of Pope. 
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Raffe 7 Figé! 
Bass.—Morone labrax (Fig. 62). This species is both 
a salt and fresh-water inhabitant. It is a marine relative 
of the Perch, but differs from the members of that family 
by having three spines instead of one or two on the anal 
fin. It is quite a nice-looking fish, and a 10 to 15 pounds 
Bass may be looked upon as a rare prize. It exceeds 
that weight, but a specimen of a few pounds is a good 
capture. It is more or less silvery in colour, with the 
prickly dorsal fin resembling that of the Perch, except 
that the spines are fewer. It resorts to the sea until it is 
108 
