INTRODUCTION 



favorably and widely known; for the giant of the 

 race, the richest prize of the angler on our eastern 

 coast, has been carried, as a tribute of friendship, 

 to the Pacific, and has heartily entered into the 

 spirit of its transportation by adopting its new 

 environment and increasing beyond all expectation. 

 We have sometimes feared that the striped bass 

 is a vanishing element of our angling resources; 

 but Calif ornians are just beginning to enjoy what 

 appears to be a rapidly growing source of supply, 

 thanks to the energy and skill of modern fish- 

 culture, and to the wonderful fitness of the western 

 ocean for the new life consigned to its keeping. 



The fresh-water basses are more numerous than 

 the marine forms, but they are pigmies in size 

 compared with the striped bass. It is claimed that 

 the large-mouthed black bass attains a weight of 

 twenty-five pounds in Florida; but its average 

 weight, even in the South, which furnishes condi- 

 tions most favorable to its growth, does not ex- 

 ceed five pounds. The small-mouthed black bass 

 seldom exceeds eight pounds in weight and aver- 

 ages scarcely more than two and a half pounds. 

 The sea-bass is the smallest of the series, for it 

 reaches a maximum of only six pounds, and this 

 is attained on its offshore feeding-grounds where 

 suitable " banks," rocks, or sunken wrecks occur 

 in deep water. 



The striped bass is one of the largest, if not 



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