THE BLACK BASS. 363 
and if alarmed moves from it a few feet, but soon returns. This 
probably is the female exercising her maternal care of the young. 
The young fish begin to be visible in June and July close in shore 
among the gravel, pebbles or grass, darting with some activity, 
and near the surface, for the double purpose of food and protec- 
tion. They are marked with a small black stripe across the tail, 
distinctly visible through their first summer; after the first year 
this disappears, and they assume the general character of this 
fish, varying according to season, water and food. They are about 
an inch long when they first disport themselves, and reach about 
three inches in five months. 
They are caught by trolling with an artificial bait in imitation of 
a fish like a minnow, or a fly, the murderous spoon, or a strip 
of perch or pickerel, or any other fish, with line extended twenty- 
five to two hundred feet—or, by still fishing from a boat, with 
minnow, worm, or other bait, and from the shore with a rod-line at 
long cast. When hooked they plunge deep, and then come with 
velocity to the surface, breaching some two to four feet out of 
water, repeating this several times with a shaking motion, as if to 
shake the hook from their mouth. Their capture affords un- 
equalled attraction to the angler. Often two will strike at once, if 
bait and fly, with long leader, are used. They are hardy, tena- 
cious of life, and will live a long time out of water. They can be 
transported in a barrel half-filled with water in cool weather, fifty 
miles by rail, by once changing the water, say twenty of medium 
size, with entire safety ; and in warm weather ice must be used to 
cool, not chill, the water (say to a temperature of fifty-five to sixty 
degrees). In this manner they can be carried to England with 
proper care, especially the smaller fish. They do not feed much 
at large in winter, as it is rare to catch them through the ice, and 
the belief is that they will not bite at this season, as a gen- 
eral rule. Indeed, this is the result of present experiments, as 
those wintered in a small artificial pond recently, show that they 
go into winter quarters by December, where they select some lone 
deep place, near or under the shelter of rocks or roots, and remain 
in a torpid state till spring, emerging to all appearance in fine, ac- 
tive, vigorous condition. They feed much on flies in summer, and 
the calm surface of the lake is often agitated with their breaking 
for this purpose. They range wide in quest of food, often driving 
small fish ashore. In August, September and October, they are in 
