244 FISHES OF ILLINOIS 



its family generally, with the exception of the small-mouthed black 

 bass, with which it is found more frequently in company than are 

 any other two species of this entire family. 



It has been taken, to the northward, from Lakes Huron, Erie, and 

 Ontario, from the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain, and from 

 northwestern streams and lakes as far as Minnesota and South Da- 

 kota. It ranges southward to the James and the Chattaoochee riv- 

 ers on the Atlantic coast, to the Alabama and the Tombigbee in the 

 Gulf district, and westward to the Des Moines and Kansas rivers 

 It is said by Jordan and Evermann to occur also in Louisiana and 

 in Texas. 



According to Dr. Jordan, it spawns in spring, constructing a nest 

 on a gravel bed where the water is moderately swift, or on a bar if in 

 a lake, the parent fish defending the nest with great vigor. Spent 

 females were taken by us at Havana June 26. 



"This species," says Jordan, "is pre-eminently a boy's fish, 

 though it is by no means despised by anglers of maturer years. * * 

 * * As a game-fish it is rather disappointing. It takes the 

 hook with vim and energy, and begins a most vigorous fight which, 

 however, it usually fails to keep up. It can usually be caught at 

 any season and at any time of day ; good fishing may be had even at 

 night. Any kind of bait may be used, but small minnows, white 

 grubs, and angleworms are best. It will take the trolling spoon quite 

 readily, and the spinner and the bucktail also are successful lures. 

 Minnows may be used either in still-fishing or in trolling. During 

 the summer grasshoppers are a good bait, and pieces of fresh-water 

 mussel or yellow perch are excellent. In the fall still-fishing with 

 small minnows usually meets with success. Casting with the arti- 

 ficial fly is not a common method for catching the rock bass, yet we 

 have had many good rises and have taken some fine examples in that 

 way ; we have also taken it on the artificial frog. Small crawfish also 

 are a tempting bait." 



As a pan-fish it is above the average but not among the best, its 

 flesh being somewhat soft and having a muddy flavor. The fish is 

 taken in rather cool clear water. 



It feeds, so far as we know, mainly on insects and small crusta- 

 ceans, with a moderate allowance of fishes. Its food, however, has 

 not been sufficiently studied to give us a fair, average for the species. 



The rock bass has been used to some extent successfully as a fish 

 for artificial ponds, and it has been successfully introduced into the 

 waters of the Pacific states. 



