NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 2/3 



the hook, baited with minnow or crayfish. The best time for fish- 

 ing is in the dusk of the evening. The foot of rapids, or beneath 

 mill dams appear to be its favorite haunts. In the heat of summer 

 it seeks the deepest part of lakes, or the coolest part of streams 

 concealed under weeds or grass. Use regular bass rod and reel, 

 and fish with a float. Anchor your boat at the side or above a 

 rapid, and let your bait run down the rapid, for they sometimes 

 lie behind huge rocks in the rapid. They average perhaps, six or 

 seven pounds, but are often much larger, and at the Little Falls of 

 the Mohawk River have been caught weighing as high as twenty 

 pounds. The meat is hard, and laminates in rich white flakes. 

 Spawns in April and May. (See Western Fishes.) 



White Lake Bass. — Labrax albidus. — De Kay. 



Very common in Lake Erie, where it takes the hook readily, 

 and is esteemed as food. Color, bluish white above the lateral 

 line, with a few narrow parallel dusky streaks above and beneath 

 this line ; sides and belly white, fins, brownish, tinged with blue, 



'Rac\i'Q.\ss,.— Cetitrarchusmneus. (Cuv. and Val.) 



This fish is found in Lake Champlain, and generally in the lakes 

 throughout New York State, and also in the canals and the Hud- 

 son River. It bites freely, and is pretty fair game. It is found in 

 greatest numbers around islands and in shallows near the shores 

 contiguous to the entrance of spring streams. A notorious spawn- 

 eater ; it ranges in weight from a quarter of a pound to a pound. 

 It bites at worms, grubs, grasshoppers or shiners, and may be 

 taken with a small-sized Buel or McHarg trolling spoon. The 

 general color of this fish is a dark greenish bronze ; top of head 

 and back a dark bottle green. Its sides below the lateral line are 

 covered with six or more longitudinal series of subquadrate dark 

 spots. Pupils of eye dark purple, with a narrow golden ring. 



Black Bass. — Grystes nigricans : Micropterns nigricans. — Gill. 



Among the various candidates for popular favor, for introduc- 

 tion into new waters, the Black Bass has always deservedly occu- 

 pied a very high place. The excellence of its flesh, its rapid growth, 

 its endurance and its game qualities, all contribute towards this 

 appreciation. Little by little this fish has been carried from one 



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