WHERE FISH ABIDE WHEN FEEDING 91 



face growth, with rocky bottoms and certain parts 

 composed of pebbles and sand, upon which grow 

 isolated tufts of aquatic weeds and bottom grass, 

 the fish food is mostly numerous species of min- 

 now^s, perch, sunfish, and the young of larger 

 species, hellgrammites and crawfish. 



Where a rocky plateau rises abruptly above the 

 surface, from deep water or an Island, the chances 

 are that bass prefer to locate a few yards from 

 it. Bass and pike do not usually lie in deep water 

 at the middle of a lake or pond, where the depth 

 is over thirty feet. A safe distance from the side 

 to fish is from fifteen to thirty feet, more or less. 

 Wall-eyed pike usually prefer, and are mostly 

 caught, in the deeper parts. Lake-trout haunt the 

 deeps, sometimes from one hundred feet to greater 

 depths, rising to the surface in the spring to prey 

 on lake shiners and other minnows. Landlocked 

 salmon, like bass, choose waters of a medium 

 depth, congregating in parts where food is most 

 abundant; much, however, depends upon the 

 nature of the food taken. In all instances food 

 controls the situation; the habits are entirely 

 subservient to the food problem. Many excep- 

 tional cases are, of course, always evident, and 

 the reader must consider them when descriptions 



