586 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



THE BLACK BASS 



Figure 2. In a large part of the United States there is" no better known fresh 

 water game fish than the Black Bass, nor one more generally sought after. There 

 are two species of Black Bass in this country, namely the large and the small- 

 mouthed. The one here figured is the small-mouth, and it may be identified by 

 the angle of the jaw being below the eye and not reaching back of it. 



carp, and many others. 



As most people know, 

 the hlack bass are of 

 two species the Small- 

 mouth Black Bass (Fig. 

 2) and the Large- 

 mouth Black Bass ; 

 both belong to the 

 genus Micropterus, and 

 are readily distinguish- 

 ed through the fact 

 that in the last-named 

 form the angle of the 

 gape of the mouth is 

 back of the imaginary 

 vertical line from the 

 center of the pupil o-f 

 the eye upon either 

 side. So gamy are 

 these fish that, on the 

 lakes in the Northwest 

 and elsewhere, they are 

 known as the "game- 

 fish of the North," and most of our anglers prefer to 

 fish for them above all other kinds. In 1868 the writer 

 landed many a one from his boat on either of the united 

 lakes, La Belle and Fowler's, in central Wisconsin, that 

 is, at Oconomowoc. They made superb fishing there, 

 for the waters of those lakes are deep and clear ; the fish 

 are wonderfully gamy; and to catch one weighing six 

 pounds happened often enough to make the sport most 

 exhilarating. 

 These fish have 

 received many 

 English names 

 so many in 

 fact that it 

 would be a 

 waste of time 

 and space to 

 attempt to 

 enumerate 

 them here. 

 Both have a 

 wide range 

 over the great- 

 er part of east- 

 ern United 

 States, and at 

 this time both 

 have been in- 

 troduced into 

 western waters. 



Black basses are very satisfactory fishes to introduce 

 into new habitats. Dr. Goode has pointed out that "a 

 few young bass will multiply so rapidly as to stock a 

 large lake in five years. The Potomac and its tributaries 

 swarmed with them ten years after their first introduc- 

 tion." It is Mr. W. W. Shriver, of Wheeling, West 



THE CATFISH 



Figure 3. Catfish arc usually caught with hook and line at night, and, of its kind, the sport is not to 

 he despised. This is one of our smaller "cats," for some of the species are giants in their way, specimens 

 of the Great Mississippi Catfish, for example, weighing as much as 150 pounds. 



Virginia, who deserves 

 the credit of having 

 planned and carried out 

 the enterprise of trans- 

 ferring this fish from 

 the Ohio River to the 

 Potomac. This was as 

 long ago as 1853, and 

 the present generation 

 of fishermen should re- 

 member this fact. 



The published history 

 of the Black Bass is 

 quite extensive and in- 

 teresting; but at this 

 point we must pass to 

 the notice of some oth- 

 er fishes. In doing so, 

 however, it will be well 

 to note that we have, 

 in the inland waters of 

 the United States, a 

 long list of fish that are 

 known under the name of bass of one kind or other. Not 

 only is this true, but those fishes as a rule all belong in 

 very different families, and In most instances are not 

 especially closely affined. The bass of the South is the 

 Red Fish; then we have the Striped Bass (Fig. 5), 

 which has several vernacular names besides. All of our 

 sunfishes, of which the common Pumpkin-Seed or 

 Tobacco-Box is an example, have all been designated as 



various kinds 

 of basses; and 

 there is the 

 Brassy Bass, 

 the Calico Bass, 

 often confused 

 with the Crap- 

 pie; the Silver 

 Bass is another 

 name for the 

 "Moon - eye," 

 and many 

 other examples 

 could be given. 

 Many people 

 and forest- 

 lovers among 

 them by no 

 means despise 

 such sport as 

 there may be 

 in angling for 

 any of the various species of our common Sunfish 

 (Figs. 6 and 7) ; although be it known, as a rule these 

 species are generally regarded as the game fish of our 

 small boys. The common sunfish is an abundant form 

 in most lakes and rivers, from the Great Lakes to 

 southern Georgia. Dr. Kirkland has given us some very 





