THE basses: fres h-w ater and marine 



ing waters and pellucid pools, that await him on the 

 trout-stream. 



Haunts of Bass and Trout 



Black bass have never been found, as have often 

 been the trout, in the heart of the rifts or rapids, 

 but frequently on the edge of them, or in the cir- 

 cling eddies formed by the back-set of the current 

 on either side of the rapids. True, at times, the 

 bronze-backers, as the black bass are often called, 

 will rush into the foaming rapids in pursuit of 

 minnows, and have been seen to jump into the air 

 and across the boil of a narrow rapid, and take the 

 fly from the eddy on the other side of the current, 

 which action would seem to indicate a repugnance 

 to entering a very rapid water even when foraging 

 for food. 



It has been observed that the black bass in rivers 

 are constantly seeking the upper waters, their range 

 being restricted only when the cold spring water 

 is reached and there is an absence of deep pools in 

 which they can find rest and comparative protection 

 from danger. This disinclination of river-bred bass 

 to enter cold spring brooks where trout live has 

 saved the latter fish from extermination in many 

 waters. The upper range of the bass is, no doubt, 

 induced by the dearth of their natural food in the 

 lower waters, a condition caused by the over-popu- 



58 



