690 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



splashing over the rough mountain-roads ; the water was renewed three 

 times during the journey ; and, the start having been made at 2 p. m., the 

 lake was reached at dusk. The wagon being backed towards the lake, the 

 fish were handed over in a bucket, and gently deposited by the writer 

 in the clear limpid water, on a rocky shore. The "contrabands'' 

 did not, at first, seem to appreciate the recovery of their freedom, but 

 remained huddled together in a narrow space, and in a state of apparent 

 stupefaction, their fins slightly quivering. The last Bass having been 

 safely deposited, Peter now jumped from the wagon, and, as a man 

 accustomed to every phase of similar expeditions, said quietly, "Now, sir, 

 touch them one after another with a stick. '^ No sooner said than done — 

 when it was really delightful to see each individual, upon a slight touch 

 of the wand, dart off into deep water with that rush peculiar to the noble 

 Bass. The last fish was touched, and all having now gladly sought the 

 depths of the lake, the writer wended his way home with a feeling 

 of immense satisfaction. 



During the ensuing summer, in the month of August 1860, the writer 

 pitched his tent on the banks of Wood Lake, and began a minute search 

 for signs of young Bass. None, however, gladdened his eye ; and after 

 more than a week or so, a sense of disappointment was fast stealing over 

 his mind, when one day a neighboring farmer paid him a visit with his 

 two urchins, begging they might be indulged with a couple of small bait- 

 hooks for the purpose of taking a few Sunfish with worms. They were 

 speedily accommodated, but had not been gone long before they returned 

 shouting " Daddy, we've cotched two of the queerest fish you ever see ! — 

 they ain't Sunfish, they ain't Catfish, and they ain't Yaller Perch, and we 

 dunno what they be !" Hereupon a highly interested individual sprang 

 from out his tent, when lo ! he identified two young Bass, each three and 

 a half inches long and an inch wide. This was the result of the first 

 spawning, probably in February or March ; and the age consequently 

 between five and six months. All doubt was now at an end, the problem 

 was solved, and the success a triumphant one. By the way, the young 

 Bass from one to two inches in length is easily distinguishable ) y a spot 

 of dingy white upon each side near the tail. When of larger growth, this 

 spot disappears. 



Wood Lake is now well stocked, and having, within the last two years, 

 become private property, is entirely protected from all manner of intrusion 

 and poaching. The circumstance of the new species not taking a bait 

 through the ice is an additional protection. The Bass now take the spoon 



