262 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



should be skinned, as the skin when scorched in broiling or frying has a bitter taste. 

 There are few fishes more to my liking than a two or three pound black bass which 

 has been skinned and split, broiled over a hot fire and served dripping with butter. 



The small-mouth rarely reaches a weight of more than five or six pounds, but the 

 large-mouth, which naturally inhabits rivers and lakes in the South and is there 

 known by the name trout, sometimes attains a weight of fifteen or eighteen pounds. 

 Professor Gill gives an interesting account of the nesting habits of these fishes, and 

 as it is in every way better than anything I could write on the- subject, I give it here : 



" The black basses, like the other members of the family, prepare nests and take 

 zealous care of the eggs and young. The sexes begin to pair about the commence- 

 ment of hot weather. They then select suitable spots for their nests, usually upon 

 a gravelly or sandy bottom, or on rocky ledges, in water from eighteen inches to 

 three feet in depth in rivers, and from three to six feet deep in lakes and ponds ; 

 and, if possible, adjacent to deep water or patches of aquatic plants, to which the 

 parent fishes retire if disturbed. The nests are circular, saucer-like depressions, 

 ranging from one to three feet in diameter or about twice the length of the fish. 

 They are formed by the bass fanning and scouring from the pebbles all sand, silt and 

 vegetable debris by means of their tails and fins and by removing larger obstacles 

 with their mouths. This gives to the beds a bright, clean and white appearance, 

 which in clear water can be seen at the distance of several score yards. When the 

 nests are thus prepared the females deposit their eggs on the bottom, usually in 

 rows, which are fecundated by the male and become glued to the pebbles or sticks 

 contained therein. The eggs are hatched in from one to two weeks, depending on 

 the temperature of the water, but usually in eight or ten days." 



To sit in a boat fishing for bass on one of our quiet lakes early on an autumn 

 morning while the streaks of mist slowly rise from the water into the crisp air, with 

 the brilliant tints of the changing foliage reflected in the quiet waters, is a pleasure 

 which many a tired man in his office looks forward to with longing. 



The black bass is a voracious feeder, pursuing and capturing many of the smaller 

 fishes which, with it, inhabit the same stream or lake. Frogs, minnows and crawfish 

 make excellent bait for this fish, and it will readily rise to the artificial fly at certain 

 seasons. 



The Striped I^ass. 



One of the largest and finest of our food fishes is the striped bass. It some- 

 times reaches a weight of from forty-five to seventy-five pounds, but these large 

 specimens are rare. Many are taken in nets and pounds, and not a few are caught 

 by the amateur fisherman with rod and reel. 



