8 THE SMALL-MOUTHED BASS 



They are * very wary, and usually choose some spot 

 well sheltered from wind, near a point of land or high 

 rock, in deep water, where there is a hiding-place in which 

 they may lie in wait for food. 



They are invariably jet-black, as one would naturally 

 expect, owing to their remaining in deep water and shadow: 

 and are often wormy. 



A probable explanation of 

 the preponderance of large 

 female bass in shoals, as well 

 as of the fact that the stragglers 

 or solitary fish are nearly always 

 of the m ^ e sex, may be, that, 

 after the spawning period is 



over, the male fish guard the nests for some weeks, while the 

 females roam from place to place and gradually collect to- 

 gether the smaller fry which are not old enough to spawn; 

 the shoal thus formed, in all probability, remaining intact 

 until the first appearance of cold weather; while, on the 

 other hand, the male fish, after the guarding process is 

 finished, distribute themselves according to their fancy and 

 wander about alone. 



Regarding the movements of bass when autumn ap- 

 proaches and the temperature of the water falls suddenly 

 two or three degrees, not much is to be said, except that 

 they form into very large shoals of several hundreds, irre- 

 spective of size or sex, and hibernate during the period of 

 extreme cold, imbedded in mud, or under sunken logs, or 

 in deep water amongst close-growing weeds. 



They are never taken in the depth of winter. I have 

 made extensive inquiries on this point, and all the anglers 

 and fishermen, from whom I have sought information, have 

 told me that they have never seen a bass taken by net or 

 otherwise during the extreme cold of the winter months. 

 That they hibernate seems to be proved by the fact that 



