42 FAMILIAR FISH, THEIR HABITS AND CAPTURE 



the country. This is especially true of the large- 

 mouth, whose natural range is from the Great Lakes 

 south to Florida, Texas, and Mexico, and west as far 

 as Dakota and Nebraska. The small -mouth was 

 originally found in Canada, and in the United States 

 from Lake Champlain to Manitoba and south to 

 Florida and Louisiana, and across Texas to Chihua- 

 hua. Both kinds seem able to stand great extremes 

 of temperature, providing the changes are not too 

 sudden. As they seem to thrive under almost all 

 conditions, it has been comparatively easy to distrib- 

 ute them. They have been successfully planted in 

 all parts of the United States where they were not 

 native, and in the waters of England, France, and 

 Germany as well. Calico and rock bass are found 

 naturally in practically the same waters as the small- 

 mouth. The latter especially has been transplanted 

 quite generally. 



The natural food of the black bass varies greatly, 

 being markedly influenced by the weather and the 

 temperature of the water. They are very voracious, 

 and devour their own kind and all other fish indis- 

 criminately. Their natural food comprises crabs, 

 minnows, frogs, worms, dobsons, tadpoles, crickets, 

 and flies. At times both the large- and small-mouth, 

 as all fishermen know, absolutely refuse to take any 

 kind of bait whatever, while at other times they bite 



