228 Modern Fishculture in Fresh and Salt Water. 



into the water. Here they find protection and food; 

 the limbs are the abode of snails, crustaceans and 

 worms of various kinds as well as of small fishes, for 

 the crappies are omnivorous in their tastes. The pref- 

 erence of the small mouth for clear and colder waters 

 has been alluded to, but as many lakes have both grassy 

 and muddy spots, they afford homes for both species. 

 I have taken the small mouth crappie in springholes 

 while standing on the ice, but they were dipped up 

 with a net, and I don't know if they would take a hook 

 in winter. This was in Grant County, Wisconsin, in 

 1857, and we wanted fish for the table. This is told 

 in detail in "Men I Have Fished With," page 309. 

 There were black bass there at the time, and they 

 sometimes lie dormant in winter, while the pike and 

 the perch feed the year round. I have fished through 

 the ice with small minnows for bait, and where crap- 

 pies were plenty, but never took one. This, however, 

 does not prove that they do not feed in winter. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

 WHITE PERCH (Morone Americana). 



This is a good little fish often seen in New York 

 markets. It is not white, but is a light olive on the 

 back and a little lighter on the sides. It is found in 

 brackish waters on our eastern coast from Nova Sco- 

 tia to South Carolina. It ascends rivers and spawns 

 in fresh water. It is often land-locked in fresh-water 



