62 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



VALUE OF COMMON FISH. 



I WISH to say a few words concerning the great 

 value and usefulness of what are usually termed the 

 " common varieties " offish. These include the yel- 

 low perch, rock bass, bull-head, sucker, pickerel, and 

 the like.. These fish, though they do not command 

 the attention of writers and fish-culturists, as trout, 

 salmon, black bass, white fish, and shad do, still hold 

 a very important place in the fish-supply of the 

 country, and furnish pleasure and food for many 

 thousands of people. 



The class of fish above referred to do not require 

 the care and attention to make them plentiful, that 

 is necessary with the finer or game varieties. Arti- 

 ficial propagation is not required, and about the 

 only thing really needed to keep a plentiful supply 

 in the waters to which they are adapted, is to pro- 

 tect them while they are in their spawning-beds, and 

 fish for them only by angling by hand, with hook and 

 line. In this way you get the greatest amount of actual 

 enjoyment in the capture of the fish; and who is 

 there that does not relish a mess of fish caught by 

 himself, better than those purchased, or procured in 

 any other way ? 



Another poinf concerning these common fish is 

 that, as a rule, they are easily caught, and it requires 

 no especially fine tackle to take them, though the 

 most successful fishermen are careful in the arrange- 



