THE BLACK BASSES. 



In vain had God stor'd Heav'n with glistring studs, 

 The plain with grain, the mountain top with woods, 

 Sever 'd the Aire from Fire, the Earth from Water, 

 Had he not soon peopled this large Theatre 

 With living Creatures; therefore he began 

 (This Day) to quicken in the Ocean 

 In standing Pools, and in the straggling Rivers 

 (Whose folding Channel fertile Champain severs) 

 So many Fishes of so many features 

 That in the Waters one may see all Creatures, 

 And all that in this All is to be found; 

 As if the World within the Deeps were drown 'd. 



— < < The Birth of the World, ' » Sylvester 's Poems, 1605. 



To the true fisherman — an Isaac Wal- 

 ton — the Black Bass of the North is a 

 game fish worth his best efforts for its 

 capture. The ordinary fisherman who 

 merely ''goes a-fishing" seldom has the 

 pleasure of landing one of these noble 

 fishes. They are pugnacious and in the 

 colder northern waters will "make a fight 

 worthy of the salmon." There are two 

 species, the Large-mouth Black Bass 

 (Micropterus salmoides) and the Small- 

 mouth Black Bass (Micropterus dolo- 

 mieu). 



Due to the fact that the Basses have 

 a wide geographical range, they have re- 

 ceived numerous popular names. In the 

 North, the Large-mouth species is usually 

 called Black Bass, while in Virginia and 

 the neighboring states, it is more fre- 

 quently called the Chub, and in the south- 

 ern states it is known by the name Trout. 

 The name Jumper is, perhaps, one of the 

 most appropriate of its common names, 

 and the name is quite as applicable to the 

 Small-mouth species. Every fisherman 

 who is at all familiar with the Black 

 Basses knows full well that they are 

 jumpers, and those who fish by seining 

 have a still stronger appreciation of this 

 habit. "It is almost impossible to cap- 

 ture them with a seine rigged in the or- 

 dinary manner, especially when the fish 

 have the vitality and activity which is 

 usual when living in water of moderate 

 temperature." An interesting experience 

 with these fishes is related in a report of 

 the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. 

 "On one occasion, when collecting Black 

 Bass on the Holston River, advantage 

 was taken of their jumping habits to ef- 



fect their capture. A flatboat twelve feet 

 wide and fifty feet long was procured 

 and in suitable places was rapidly poled 

 broadside from one bank to the other. 

 As it approached the further shore the 

 Bass would leap from the stream and 

 frequently land in the boat, the gunwale 

 of which was cut down to within four 

 inches of the water. One Bass was seen 

 to clear the entire width of the boat, mak- 

 ing a horizontal jump of fourteen feet." 



The Large-mouth Bass is also known 

 by a number of other names which have 

 less significance. Some of these are Os- 

 wego Bass, Lake Bass, Bayou Bass, 

 Green, and Yellow Bass, Moss Bass, 

 and in a few localities of the South 

 it is called Welchman. The Small-mouth 

 Black Bass is also favored with a large 

 number of names, many of which are 

 purely local and need not be mentioned. 

 A few of the more common ones are: 

 Lake Bass, Ninny Bass, Hog Bass, 

 Brown Bass or Trout, Black or Trout 

 Perch and Mountain Trout. Variation 

 in characteristics and habits due to age, 

 geographical location and different cli- 

 matic influences have led scientists to 

 recognize and name quite a large num- 

 ber of species of Black Basses, but the 

 investigators of more recent years have 

 discarded all but the two specific names, 

 already mentioned, and included all the 

 Black Basses under either the Large- 

 mouth or the Small-mouth species. 



The range of the Large-mouth Black 

 Bass may be considered as covering the 

 larger part of the eastern United States 

 and southern British America, westward 

 to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas. 



18* 



