THE CAT-FISH. 35 



the same species which inhabit the mud banks of the 

 Mississippi river, and the great Western lakes. The 

 common cat-fish is of a dusky color on the back, 

 which gradually lightens towards the belly, the belly 

 itself being of a light greyish hue. The sides of the 

 head are greenish, and some species of them have 

 small prickly horns. They are taken in great abun- 

 dance, and their size varies with the size of the 

 stream, or the richness of their feeding ground. In 

 good situations in large rivers they weigh from one 

 to four pounds. In the Mississippi, and the lakes 

 of Northern New York, they grow to twenty, thirty, 

 fifty, and even one hundred pounds. It is an easy 

 matter to catch cat-fish. You have only to procure 

 tackle strong enough to draw them out of the water, 

 using a hook according to the expected size of your 

 game. A single or double gut leader is necessary, 

 according to the strength required. Minnows, pieces 

 of fish, shad-roe, worms, toasted cheese, insects, pieces 

 of meat or liver, chickens offal any of these baits 

 will attract the cat-fish. You can fish with hand 

 lines, or with a rod, as you may prefer. The proper 

 hook is the Limerick salmon from No. 1 to 5, ac- 

 cording to the size of your fish. They do not bite 

 very vigorously, but perform a series of fine nibbles, 

 similar to the bite of an eel. The cat-fish is an ex- 

 cellent pan fish when properly cooked. In St. Louis 

 the large ones are sold in market like our large sea- 

 fish, being cut up in steaks of the size desired by the 

 purchaser. They are plentiful always in mud bot- 



