468 



FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



CHAPTER IV. 



FRESH- WATER FISHES OF THE SOUTH. 

 SECTION FIRST. 



WHITE PERCH, OF MISSISSIPPI. 



THIS fish was taken at the head waters of the Chickasaw 

 River, Mississippi, by Mr. B. F. Moore, Jun., of Meridian, Mis- 

 sissippi, who has done me the favor to furnish the Southern 

 trout (channel cat) ; and at his instance Colonel James F. 

 Taylor, of Raleigh, North Carolina, furnished me with the ex- 

 cellent drawing and description of the chub-robin, one of the 

 gamiest small fishes of any water. 



The white perch of the South is the most beautiful fish of 

 the numerous Percidce tribes. It inhabits ponds and run- 

 ning streams ; loves eddies and deep holes, schooling in fall 

 near a shaded bank or brush in the stream. It bites almost 

 exclusively the minnow, preferring a live one, but was never 

 known to bite a worm. It bites throughout spring and sum- 

 mer, and is the latest biting fish in autumn. Its best months 

 for biting are October and November, though it is a very 

 wary biter, seldom sinking the float a decided nibbler; bites 

 like a minnow, while swimming, and tows the cork along on 

 the surface of the water. Its mouth is very tender, and it 

 is difficult to land, for the hook often parts from its paper 



