RUFFE AND BASS 



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-Ruff"e'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. 



Bass. — Morone labrax (Fig. 62). This species is both 



a salt and fresh-water inhabitant. It is a marine relative 



of the Perch, but diflers 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 



109 



