158 AMERICAN FISHES. 







true genera of fish, known in their own regions as the " Wclchman," 

 the " Pompario," and such other denominations, which of course are 

 not to be found in any work of natural history, while the people, who 

 are in the habit of taking them daily, can give you no information, 

 nor indeed data, on which to found an opinion, except that they are 

 " very like a whale," or a Trout, as it may be. I mention this here 

 en passant, because I am perfectly prepared to find myself violently 

 assailed, and pronounced utterly incompetent to prepare a book of 

 this nature, because I have not included " that delicious fish, the pride 

 of our southern waters, well known to the real sportsman, the noble 

 ' Pompano,' or the unrivalled ' Welchman,' as it may be, in my list, 

 of game fishes." But I have made up my mind to peaceful submis- 

 sion, deeming it quite enough to have investigated the identity of what 

 it amuses southern gentlemen to call " Trout," and Western New 

 Yorkers "Bass" and " Sheep 's-Head," without troubling my head 

 about mere provincial barbarisms. I believe the " Pompano " to be 

 of the Mackerel family, and the " Welchman," which is described as 

 a bold biter at small fish, worms, and the like, to be a percoid fish, 

 analogous to Rock-Bass, Centrarckus JEneus, or perhaps a Corvina, 

 analogous to the JMalaskegane^ or Sheep's-Head of the lakes. 



The Common Pickerel to return to my subject does not in gene- 

 ral exceed five pounds, and in most districts this is considerably above 

 his average, which does not, I think, go beyond two and a half or 

 three pounds, but they are occasionally taken in the smaller lakes, 

 and in some few of the more sluggish streams, of infinitely larger 

 size, even so far, it is said, as to twelve and fifteen pounds' weight ; 

 but such instances are rare, even if they can be relied upon as facts 

 which I am somewhat inclined to doubt, thinking that they have 

 probably been mistaken for some other cognate species. 



In the year 1838, I myself took a Pickerel which weighed fifteen 

 pounds three ounces, under Stillwater bridge, on the Hudson river, 

 while fishing for Black Bass, Gristes Nigricam, with a large gaudy fly, 

 and landed him, after a long and severe struggle, having only a light 

 fly-rod, and neither gaff nor landing net, although I was fishing with 

 a Salmon-reel, and one hundred yards of line. 



I was not at that time sufficiently conversant with minute distinc- 

 tions to say positively to what species this large fish belonged, and ] 



