4 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[JJTLY 24, 1890. 



A 



upon insects to some extent, but nearly one-half of their food is made up of fishes. 



Mode of Capture.— "The warmouth perch, or black sunfieh, grows nearly as large 

 as the rock bass, with a larger mouth, and approaches more nearly the black bass in 

 appearance and habits. It is a good game fish for its inches, and can be taken with 

 any kind of live bait, as grubs, worms, larvae, grasshoppers, crickets, small minnows, 

 etc., and also rises well to the artificial fly of almost any color. The same tackle may 

 be employed as for the rock bass or croppie." 



The Rock Bass {Ambloplites rupestris), Fig. 7.— This species is best known as the 

 rock bass. The name redeye is also well associated with the species. In some locali- 

 ties goggle-eye, red-eyed perch and lake bass are names used to a limited extent for 

 the rock bass. 



Distribution.— The rock bass occurs in lower Canada, Vermont, and westward 

 through the Great Lake region to 

 Manitoba. It is indigenous in Dakota, 



Minnesota and southward throughout , ' ^ A 



the Mississippi Valley to Texas. It 



is a common inhabitant of the Ohio 1 1 



Valley. It has been supposed to be ^<**<%'^ ^ 1 



absent from the Middle Atlantic ^^r' ' 



States east of the Alleghanies, but 

 has been known sparingly in the 

 Susquehanna for a number of years, 

 but whether it occurs naturally or 

 introduced we are not aware. In 

 Virginia it has been introduced into 

 some bodies of water and is nati ve in 

 others. It also occurs native in North 

 Carolina. 



Size— The rock bass in suitable 

 waters usually reaches a length of 

 lft. , and a fish of this length would 

 weigh from 1 to lilbs., but in very 

 large examples the depth and thick- 

 ness increases greatly, and it is re- 

 ported that specimens weighing 3£- 

 lbs. have been caught in Stony Creek, 

 Virginia. The National Museum has 

 an individual which was caught in 

 the James River at Manchester, Va. , 

 that weighs 21bs. It measures 14in. 

 in length and SjirL in depth. 



Habits. — Early in the spring, in February and March, it resorts to the mouths of 

 small streams, where the water runs fresh, and in the summer months it frequents 

 shady places, going under high banks or shelving rocks. It is gregarious, going in 

 large schools. 



.Season. — The fishing season begins in June and continues until cold weather. 



Localities. — In the region inhabited by this species it abounds in all the streams, 

 lakes and ponds. Sluggish streams with pure dark water sttit it best. 



Food. — The rock bass feeds on worms, insect larvae and small crustaceans. It is 

 admirably adapted to pond life, where it flourishes equally as well as in the streams. 

 Early in the summer it feeds upon worms and insects, later upon minnows, craw- 

 fish and other crustaceans. The 

 young feed upon insects and their 

 larvae. 



Rexrroduction. — This species spawns 

 in May and June on gravelly shoals. 



Game Qualities. — The rock bass is 

 a very free and ready biter, but its 

 staying quaUties are not great. It is 

 an excellent and highly valued pan 

 fish, and hence eminently suited for 

 introduction into Eastern waters. 



"The rock bass or redeye (Amblo- 

 plites rupestris) is a very fair game 

 fish, considering its size, and is also 

 a good pan fish, and with very light 

 tackle there is far worse fishing than 

 rock bass fishing on a shady, rocky 

 stream. It congregates in small 

 schools, is quite a free biter, and a 

 vigorous fighter. I have seen the 

 time when I felt quite proud in the 

 possession of a good basket of 'red- 

 eyes;' and the sport I experienced in 

 their capture, with a 4oz. rod, was 

 something to be remembered. 



"As with the crappies, the angler 

 can use a light cane rod, 10ft. long, 

 and not over 4 or 5oz, in weight, with 

 a No. 1 twisted silk line the length of 

 the rod, a 3ft. leader of the finest gut, and Sproat hooks, Nos. 4 or 5, tied on drawn 

 gut, and a quill float; this tackle answers admirably for rock bass fishing from a boat 

 on ponds, or in the holes of streams. When a reel is used for casting, an H line of 

 braided silk should be substituted for the twisted silk. 



"For baits, use small minnows, grasshoppers, soft crawfish, white grubs or angle- 

 worms, the best being the white grub found in decayed stumps or manure heaps. 



"For fiy-fishing, a fight trout fly-rod of 5 or 6oz., light click reel, enameled line, 

 size G, and a fine trout leader are puitable. Any of the general trout flies with red, 

 brown or yellow in their composition, as the Montreal, ibis, soldier, professor, oriole, 

 polka, etc, or the brown, red or 

 ginger hackles answer well for rock 

 bass. They should be tied to drawn, 

 gut snells on Sproat hooks, Nos. 5 

 to 7. 



"With such tackle the rock bass 

 -will be found to be a game fish of no 

 mean pretensions, and will well re- 

 pay the angler who is debarred from 

 black bass or Canadian trout fishing." 



The Sacramento Perch {Archo- 

 plites in terrupt us). Fig. 8. — The little 

 information that we have about this 

 Calif ornian species is obtained from 

 the writings of Dr. D. S. Jordan, who 

 says: "This species is known only 

 by the name of perch, a name applied 

 in the San Francisco markets to many 

 very different fishes. It has been 

 thus far found only in the Sacra- 

 mento and San Joaquin rivers and 

 tributaries. It is abundant in the 

 lower parts of these rivers, large 

 numbers being shipped to the mar- 

 kets in San Francisco. It is there 

 bought and consumed mainly by the 

 Chinese, who value it highly, paying 

 for it more than for any other fish 

 which they consume. Although it is 

 an excellent pan fish, very similar to 

 the black bass, we have never seen 

 any of them bought by Americans. 

 It reaches a weight of a little more than one pound, 

 its habits." 



The Sacramento perch is the only member of the sunfish family found west of the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



Dr. Henshall is of the opinion that the same tackle and baits used for the rock bass 

 would prove successful with the Sacramento peroh. 

 The Calico Bass {Pomoxys sparoides), Fig, 9.— Of the variations of the name bass, 



Fig. 7. Rock Bass (Amhlot>Wc» rtti>mtris). 



Fig. 8. Sacramexto Perch (Arehoplites interrwpfatfy, 



Fig. 9. Calico Bass (Pomoxys sparotdes). 



Nothing distinctive is known of 



this fish possesses a goodly share. It is styled strawberry bass, grass bass, lake bass 

 and Lake Erie bass, bank-lick bass, silver bass, big-fin bass. It is known, also, as 

 strawberry perch, chinquapin perch, goggle-eyed perch, silver perch and sand perch. 

 Miscellaneous names of local application for this species are bar-fish, bitter-head, tin- 

 mouth, Sac-a-lai, lamp-lighter, razor-back, goggle-eye, black croppie and lake croppie. 

 In the Pennsylvania fish Jaws this fish is designated as Lake Erie or grass bass. 



Distribution.— The calico bass has a naturally wide distribution, which has been 

 greatly extended by artificial introduction. The fish is now living, thriving and 

 multiplying in France. Through the efforts of the Pennsylvania Fish Commission it 

 has become acclimatized in the Susquehanna River. It is indigenous east of the 

 Alleghanies from New Jersey south waid to Georgia, and abundant in the Great Lake 

 region, in the upper part of the Mississippi Valley, and in the Missouri. In the Ohio 



Valley it is naturally uncommon, but 

 has been largely introduced. 

 . Size. — The calico bass reaches a 



length of about one foot and a max- 

 imum weight of nearly 31bs., but the 

 average weight is little more than lib. 



Season. — This bass spawns in the 

 spring and is protected in some of the 

 States until June 1. Fish caught in 

 May near Havre de Grace were 

 spawning. 



Localities. — Two very fine speci- 

 mens, 10 and 12in. long, were recently 

 taken at Port Deposit, Md., in the 

 Susquehanna. The Susquehanna and 

 tidewater canal near Havre de Grace 

 haB yielded good fishing for this spe- 

 cies. Throughout the Great Lake re- 

 gion it is found in abundance; in the 

 ponds of northern Indiana and Ohio 

 it is also very common, and in the 

 vicinity of Covington, Ky. , there are 

 ponds which have been thoroughly 

 stocked with this fish. In the rivers 

 of the Southern States, from Virginia 

 to Georgia, the calico bass is one of 

 the common species. 



Food. — Worms, small crustaceans 

 and fishes. 



Habits. — Very little is recorded about the habits of the calico bass. It swims in 

 large schools, and is found in comparatively shallow water. Like other members of 

 the sunfish family, it is a nest builder and it is a lover of warm water. The nest 

 building has been described by Duclos from observations made in the vicinity of 

 Versailles, France. He noticed more than one hundred nests in water about 8in. deep. 

 Favorite places for the nests were the stone steps descending into the pond. In 

 France a three-year-old fish measured about Sin. in length and nearly Sin. in depth. 

 The young in April measured four-fifths of an inch; in the following August the same 

 individuals measured 3£in. 

 Game Qualities.— The calico bass resembles the black bass somewhat in game qual- 

 ities; it is a free and vigorous biter, 

 and its endurance, considering its 

 size, is remarkable. 



I The Crappie {Pomoxys annularis). 



Fig. 10. — The orappie is so well and 

 widely known that it has received a 

 great many names, among which are 

 the following: Bachelor, new light, 

 Campbellite, sac-a-lai, bridge perch, 

 strawberry perch, chinquapin perch, 

 speckled perch, tin perch, goggle- 

 eye, John Demon, shad, white crop- 

 pie and timber croppie. 



Distinguishing Marks. — The crap- 

 pie usually has only six spines in the 

 uorsal, while the calico bass has 

 seven; the anal fin of the crappie is 

 nearly uniform whitish, while in the 

 calico bass it is reticulated like the 

 soft dorsal. The depth of the crappie 

 is less, also, in proportion to the ex- 

 treme length of the fish , being usually 

 three-sevenths of the total length 

 without the tail, while the depth of 

 the calico bass is one-half of this 

 length. In size and habits the fish 

 are so nearly alike that they are sel- 

 dom distinguished by the fishermen. 

 Distribution. — The crappie is most 

 abundant in the lower Mississippi Valley; it is common also in the Ohio valley, and is 

 rarely taken in Lake Erie. It inhabits by preference still waters and large ponds, 

 seldom occurring in small streams. Like the calico bass it is admirably adapted for 

 pond culture, and multiplies enormously under favorable circumstances, and stands 

 transportation very well. Its range has been greatly extended by artificial introduc- 

 tion. In Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, crappie fishing is very productive and 

 furnishes rare sport. 



Size. — The maximum size of the crappie is claimed for Murdoch Club Lake near 

 St. Louis, which furnished a specimen weighing over 31bs. The usual size of the adult 



fish is about lft. in length and weight 

 about lib. or slightly more. 



Season. — The season usually begins 

 in June and continues until cold 

 weather. Crappies are very abund- 

 ant in the Ohio, Illinois and Missis- 

 sippi Rivers, especially so in the lower 

 parts of the Mississippi. They abound 

 in waters of suitable size in these 

 regions. We have seen large num- 

 bers of beautiful specimens taken 

 near Quincy, III. Prof. Forbes has 

 found them at Peoria in March and 

 April, and in Pistakee Lake in Mc- 

 Henry county, 111., also at Ottawa. 

 Cedar Lake, Ind., is celebrated for 

 its crappies; King's Lake, Mo., is an- 

 other famous locality. Some very 

 large private ponds near Covington, 

 Ky., belonging to Joseph Schiosser, 

 contain myriads of crappies and other 

 game fishes, to fish for which a fee is 

 charged. 



Food. — The food of the crappie has 

 been carefully investigated by Prof. 

 S. A. Forbes, director of the Illinois 

 Laboratory of Natural History, who 

 finds that the young subsist princi- 

 pally upon entomostraca and small 

 insect larvas. Even the adults con- 

 tinue to take this food as long as it is 

 abundant, and when it becomes 

 scarce they supply the deficiency in part with other fishes. Some of the fishes which 

 he found in stomachs were small minnows and darters. As already stated the autum- 

 nal food of the crappie includes a larger percentage of small fishes, amounting in some 

 cases to nearly two-fifths of the entire stomach contents. Among the larvae some- 

 times consumed by the crappie in the fall Prof. Forbes found that of the helgramite 

 (Corydalus cornutus). The amount of food taken in cold weather was found to 

 average not more than one-quarter of the quantity consumed in eajrly spring, 



