CHAPTER XVI. 



Sunfish, Carp, Catfish and Suckers. 



RITERS on the subject of fishing commonly 

 group the various fish under their family 

 heads, the classification of the naturalists 

 being used. I have not followed this rule 

 and the only way I can bring these above named 

 fish all under one head is to class them as 

 "common fishes." It is by this title that this 

 group of fish is generally known. 



The sunfish family comprises many species. Our gamey 

 black bass, both the large and small mouthed kinds, belong 

 to it. The others are the rock bass, the common sunfish, the 

 calico bass, the crappie, the blue sunfish, the long eared sun- 

 fish, the warmouth perch, etc. These are also known in lo- 

 calities under many other names, which is confusing. As 

 the mode of fishing for all of these is about the same, I will 

 first describe the fish separately and then tell how to catch 

 them. 



The common sunfish, often known as the pumpkin seed, 

 is found throughout the Eastern States, the Great Lakes re- 

 gion, and the northern-central states. It is a small, flat fish, 

 being "most as wide as long" and has many colors on its 

 scaley sides. The predominating colors are blue and yellow, 

 being bluish on the back and yellow or golden color beneath, 

 the dorsal fin which is very large, being yellow with blue 

 rays; the ear tip is black with a scarlet border, and the iris 

 of the eye is also scarlet. It is such a common fish that al- 

 most everybody in the East who has ever done any fishing is 

 familiar with it. It is seldom more than four or five inches 



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