July 34, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



Wm 



prefers rapid water and hence is very active in its movements. It often follows its 

 prey into very shallow water and when chased by boats has been known to jump into 

 the boat in its clumsy efforts to escapo capture. It swims in schools and feeds wher- 

 ever food is to be obtained. Some writers state that the small-mouth bass is very 

 destructive to trout and other soft-finned fishes. 



Reproduction-.— The spawning season of the black bass lasts from March to July. 

 The hatching period lasts from seven to fourteen days. The ega;s adhere to stones on 

 which they are deposited. The spawning fish build nests, and protect the eggs and 

 young. Without protection the eggs would soon be devoured by crawfish and other 

 enemies. The spawning habits are 



very fully described under the large- . 

 mouth species. The Canadian gov- t /% 7 / ] s^fi 



eminent had in contemplation the A •// -^"^ 



artificial propagation of black bass as , {■ 



early as 1869, an order having been U-',/ 

 received from England for eggs of . - 



this speciesin 1868. In 1884 Canada ^^WmS^Kn 

 bred 100,000 Mack bass at New < !as1 le, ^^WMuiW 

 Ontario. The ease with which small iwWTO 

 bass can \»: transported .-insists greatly 

 in their wide distribution. 



Game Qualities. — We need scarcely 

 mention the fact that the small-mouth 

 bass is one of the favorite game fishes 

 wherever it is known. It bites ra- 

 venously at small fish of various spe- 

 cies, helgramites, crawfish, frogs, trol- 

 ling spoon and the artificial fly. As 

 a fighter and tactician it is probably 

 not excelled by any species of equal 

 size, except it may be the brook trout. 

 Its resistance when hooked is violent 

 and determined, and with light tackle 

 great skill is essential to its capture. 

 As a food fish the small- mouth black 

 bass stands in the front rank of 

 American fishes. 



Dr. James A. Henshall, Secretary 

 of the Ohio Fish Commission, who 

 needs no further introduction to lov- 

 ers of the black bass and their allies, 

 has prepared brief and clear direc- 

 tions about the capture of the basses, sunfishes, warmoutb, crappies, rock bass, etc., 

 especially for this supplement. His instructions are given in quotation marks at the 

 close of the chapter to which they belong. Concerning the black basses he writes as 

 follows: 



"Although I have written so much about the black bass, it is ever a fresh subject— 

 a delightful and perennial topic. But in this instance I shall only call attention, 

 briefly, to the best methods of angling and to the tackle to be employed in its capture. 

 My remarks may be applied to either or both species, for the methods of angling for 

 them are the same, from the 20- 

 pouud big-mouth of Florida to the 2- 

 pound small-mouth of Northern wat- 

 ers. For bait-fishing the standard 

 Henshall rod of 8oz. and 8ift. long 

 will answer for all the emergencies 

 and requirements of the same, in the 

 hands of a good bass angler. For 

 particular localities, or for particular 

 tastes, it may be a little lighter or a 

 little heavier as the circumstances 

 seem to demand. 



"A first-class multiplying reel and 

 a braided silk line, letter G, or pre- 

 ferably H, should be used with this 

 rod to obtain the best results; for the 

 Henshall rod i3 not designed to be 

 used with a click reel and a fly-line, 

 or with a very coarse line or a very 

 poor multiplier. 



"For still- fishing, a 6 ft. leader of 

 single gut may be used, but must be 

 dispensed with in casting the min- 

 now. The hook for bait-fishing in 

 Northern waters should not be larger 

 than Sproat No. 2 — most anglers use 

 hooks of too large a size for black 

 bass. Hooks should be tied on single 

 gut snells. The smallest size sinker, 

 or a small brass box swivel, may be 

 used in pond or lake fishing, but is 

 not essential in stream fishing on the 

 riffles. 



"The 'shiner' is the best bait, and the 'chub' next. Shedder or soft crawfish, helgra- 

 mites, frogs, grasshoppers, crickets and even angleworms also subserve a useful 

 purpose at times. 



"Casting the minnow is the most artistic mode of baitfishing and the most success- 

 ful. The modus operandi of casting is now so well understood that it is not necessary 

 to describe it here. In casting from a boat it is only essential to say that the boat 

 should be kept in deeper water, and the casts made toward the shallows on which the 

 bass are found. In fishing a stream the best plan is to wade and cast toward the 

 likely spots, as riffles, shallow pools, 

 eddies, etc. In fishing the pools 

 under dams or in the bends of 

 streams, the fishing may be done 

 from the bank. 



"Medium-sized minnows, 3 or 4in. 

 long, are the best to use in casting. 

 Larger ones may be used in still-fish- 

 ing, and they should be hooked 

 through the lips. Crawfish should 

 be hooked through the tail, and hel- 

 gramites through the cap of the back 

 of the neck, from behind forward. 

 Grasshoppers and crickets and frogs 

 should be hooked through the back, 

 and worms as the fancy of the angler 

 may dictate. 



"When the bass is hooked he 

 should be kept on the spring of the 

 rod, and should not be given an inch 

 of line if it can be avoided. When 

 the spring of the rod brings him to 

 the surface and he turns on his side, 

 get him into the landing-net as soon 

 as possible. 



"For fly-fishing the rod should not 

 be more than lOfft. for an 8oz. rod, 

 though one of lO^ft. and 1%oz. is bet- 

 ter. A click reel, or a fine multiplier 

 with adjustable click, 30yds. of en- 

 ameled G line, and 6ft. single gut 



leader of the best quality, constitutes the fly-fisher's outfit. Flies should be made with 

 gut or gimp loops instead of being tied to snells, in which case the leader should be 

 made with loops for attaching the same by short, separate snells. I have found the 

 best flies to be the polka, Montreal, professor, coachman, oriole, king-of-the-water, 

 Abbey, Lord-Baltimore, Qconomowoc, grizzly-king, silver-doctor, and the various 

 haekles. On bright days, or clear water, use small flies; on dark days or rough or 



Jim 



mm 



Fig. 4. Blue Sunfish {Lepomis pallidm). 



1 



Fig. 5. Long-Eared Sunfish (Lepomis auritvs). 



Fro, 6, The Warmouth (Cht&nobryitus gulosus). 



milky water the flies should be larger. Allow the flies to sink a few inches below the 

 surface at times. 



"Strike upon sight or touch. Keep the fish on the bend of the rod until he is in the 

 landing-net. Never let him run away with the line if it can be helped. 



"On bright days give the bass a rest in the middle of the day; on cloudy days this 

 caution is not so" essential. The late afternoon hours are always the best for fly-fishing. 

 Unless you have to travel some distance to the fishing grounds, don't hurry out of bed 

 to go a-flshing. Take your breakfast at the usual hour like a Christian. There is 

 nothing gained by being on the water at daylight, or before the sun is several hours 



high. Fishes in inland waters do not 

 move about muoh before 8 o'clok in 

 the morning, as they feed mostly 

 ^ _ during the first part of the night, 



and rest or sleep during the latter 

 . •« part." 



The Blue Sunfish {Lepomis pal- 

 lidus), Fig. 4. — Names. — Blue bream, 

 copper-nosed bream, and dollardoe 

 ^^fffjfl are additional names of this large 

 U VyOv Vv' -V '' . ^ "' sunfish. 



Distribution. — This is one of the 

 most widely diffused of all the spe- 

 cies of Lepomis, and is subject to 

 great variations in size, color, length 

 of the so-called ear flap, etc. Its 

 range extends from the Great Lakes 

 to Mexico and Florida. East of the 

 Alleghanies it is found northward to 

 New Jersey. 



Size. — The blue sunfish grows to a 

 length of nearly 1ft., and its greatest 

 recorded weight is 2lbs. The average 

 weight is less than lib., and the 

 length of adults 8in. 



Habits— This fish frequents streams 

 and pond3 indifferently and is fond 

 of warm waters. The observations 

 of Mr, Seal, given elsewhere in this 

 number, will furnish a clue to the 

 reproductive habits of the sunfishes 

 in general. 

 The Long -Eared Sunfish (Lepo- 

 ■mis auritus), Pig. 5. — Names.— Sunfish, bream, perch, sunperch, red-headed bream, 

 red-bellied bream, red-bellied perch and red-breast are applied to the long-eared sun- 

 fish in the various parts of its rather extensive range. 



Distribution. —The sunfish abounds in streams east of the Alleghanies from Maine 

 to Florida, and in Gulf tributaries to Louisiana. A southern variety, distinguished 

 by larger scales on the cheeks, and a dusky blotch on the hinder part of the soft dorsal 

 fin, replaces the typical auritus from Virginia southward. 

 Size.— The long-eared sunfish reaches an average length of 8in. when adult, and its 



weight is about llh. Southern ex- 

 amples are usually larger than north- 

 ern, and the number of individuals is 

 * greatly increased. 



? "', >> , Habits— Like the blue sunfish, this 



. ; ^ species feeds on worms, small fishes, 



\ insect larvaj, crustaceans, mollusks 



r - and aquatic plants. Fishes, however, 



^ gfL according to Prof. S. A. Forbes, do 

 &f uot form an important part of the 



: ^ food of the blue sunfish in the Illinois 



r t t " r If? River, but small mollusks, insects, 



" * {' v . cnHt.-ice.wi;.; and aquatic vegetation 



jJJjQX:r^'W*X-) ; ' v )' fv supply them with ample aourish- 

 tWWvWwffiffiM ' ' ■ ' ' ?W0l meut. 



^^Jiy^\hHyVrT^700{/^' '•/ '•' '.' Besides th< two large sunfishes 



above referred to there are several 

 n^AAft . „ ;i smaller species which fall a prey to 



\\ />' ' N ~ - * "**- ■ the youthful an t-:-r*s tackle in vari- 



v\ S \ v\ sit&Z-. * a ~ -L*. 'V'^ ous waters of the United States, 



Among these is the well-known 

 pumpkin-seed, or sunny, of the Great 

 Lake region and Eastern streams 

 from Maine to Florida. This is the 

 curious nest-builder whose habits in 

 this particular were described by Dr. 

 Gill in Forest and Stream, August 

 8, 1889, and will be found more re- 

 cently discussed by Mr. W. P. Seal 

 in the present supplement. 



How to Capture Sunfishes.— "The 

 several species of sunfishes or bream 

 {Lepomis), furnish considerable pleas- 

 ure to the all-round angler with the lightest tackle. Some of them, as the blue sun- 

 fish, or copper-nosed bream (L. pallidus), and the long-eared sunfish {L. auritus), and 

 the red-bellied bream {L. rnegalotis), and pumpkin-seed {L. gibbosus), grow to the size 

 of a breakfast plate, and are gallant fighters on a slender rod. They are much 

 esteemed in Southern nland waters, and much sought after. They take almost any 

 kind of live bait, and rise eagerly to the artificial fly. 



"The same class of rods and tackle mentioned under croppies and rock bass will 

 also answer for any of the sunfishes or bream. The angler who has never fished for 



'sunnies' with a 3 or 4oz. fly-rod, 

 drawn gut leader, and midge* flies, 

 has a pleasant revelation in store. It 

 *>0\ . ^ i ^ ; ■ * s far more sportsmanlike than fish- 



•'• ' ing for fingerling brook trout, and 



the sport itself is much superior and 

 vastly more satisfactory. I have 

 never forgotten my youthful love for 

 .^sg^Uft^ the 'sunny,' and I trust I never shall." 



The Warmocths (Chaanobryttus 

 gulosus and variety antistius), Fig, 

 6. — The warmouth is represented by 

 two well-marked varieties, the anti- 

 stius inhabiting Lake Michigan and 

 the tributaries of the upper Missis- 

 sippi; the other form abounds 

 throughout the South, both east and 

 west of the Alleghanies, ranging to 

 Texas and Florida southward and to 

 Virginia northward. 



Names.— The C. gulosus, or south- 

 ern form, is very generally known as 

 the warmouth. Other names of 

 greater or less distribution are perch, 

 sunfish, goggle-eye, red-eye, wide- 

 mouth sunfish and black sunfish. 

 The variety antistius is the black 

 warmouth, styled also the war- 

 mouth, bigmouth, sunfish, goggle- 

 eye, black sunfish and wide-mouth 

 sunfish. 



Size,— The warmouth grows to a length of lOin., and a weight of nearly lib. The 

 body is thick and moderately deep. 



Game Qualities— The warmouths, wherever thev are sufficiently abundant, are 

 well known game fishes and highly valued as food. They are strong and vigorous, 

 resembling the rock bass in habits, food and fighting qualities. 



Food, —The young feed upon inBeeta and, insect larvsp, the adults continue to prey 



