no Sporting Sketches 



pan, was the yellow perch. These handsome fel- 

 lows frequently travelled in large schools, which 

 meant lively work. They would range from half 

 a pound to three times that weight, and the best 

 bait was the worm, although other baits sometimes 

 proved useful. On a good day, and these were none 

 too frequent, the catch might range from twenty to 

 three times that number. 



A very beautiful prize was the sunfish, for which 

 every boy has a warm corner in his heart. A large 

 one would weigh about three-quarters of a pound, 

 but specimens one-fourth that weight are much 

 more frequently taken. They are greedy biters and 

 game in their own way, but their mouths are too 

 small for ordinary bass hooks and baits. A very 

 small hook bearing a portion of worm will at once 

 be taken if the sunfish be there, and he is there in 

 almost every stretch of our old waters. He delights 

 in sunny shallows, in pools among the grasses, and 

 he also is addicted to lying beside roots and rubbish 

 near shore. It is a common sight to see these fish 

 poised with wavering fins above their spawn, where 

 the sand and gravel are only a foot or so below the 

 surface. When a boy marks sunfish so engaged, 

 these fish are as good as caught. They will not 

 forsake the spawn, and they will bite, in hunger or 

 anger, at anything dropped too near their precious 

 charge. This fish, with the shiner and young perch, 

 shares the doubtful honor of being first victim of 

 pin-hook wiles. 



Among rarely taken species were the young 

 whitefish and the herring. These were delicate 

 mouthed but most palatable, yet they played minor 



