APPEARANCE AND HABITS or STKIPED BASS, 47 



weight of nearly a hundred. I have captured but one which 

 weighed over forty pounds, although I have angled- for them 

 every season for the past thirty years. It is great game 

 when weighing any where from ten to thirty pounds. In 

 muscular power the striped bass equals the salmon, but it 

 lacks the caudal power for leaping, which is so palpable in 

 the form of a salmon, back of its adipose fin, including its 

 crescent-shaped tail. 



This fish is known south of New Jersey as the rockfish ; 

 but as no two ichthyologists agree upon a classical name for 

 the fish, it had probably best be called the name by which it 

 is known where the greatest numbers are taken, and there it 

 is known only as the STRIPED BASS ; and as there is no other 

 fish which at all resembles it, there is no chance of mistake. 

 It approximates the Perca genus, the front dorsal fin being 

 composed of seven spinous or spiked rays, and having two. 

 nearly concealed spines. Its scales are rather large, and of 

 metallic lustre; gill-covers serrated and edges sharp. The 

 color of the back is a blending of black, blue, and green, light- 

 ing to bluish-gray at the sides, and to a .satin white belly. 

 The longitudinal stripes are usually seven or eight in number, 

 and are like narrow black braids, sparkling with silver or 

 diamonds and emerald. Its symmetry, marks, and satin sheen 

 render it one of the most picturesque and interesting fishes in 

 the world, independent of its great game, generous play, and 

 luxury as a dinner fish. 



The striped bass is eminently domestic in his habits. He 

 is not given to wandering or vagrancy. He is generally to 

 be found at home and in good condition. The female de- 

 posits her eggs in fresh and brackish waters, but never in the 

 sea. In November the bass shoal and congregate in brackish 

 water-ponds, or back waters of tidal rivers, or in the bays and 

 bayous of rivers which have an outlet to the sea, after which 

 time it will not take bait until the following spring, after 

 having spawned and returned to active waters. The ponds 

 formed by the back water of the Seconnet River were, a few 



