218 
THE BASS. 
and last rays ; the second dorsal and the pectoral are pale brown, and the tail and other fins 
are bright red. 
The fine fish so well known nnder the name of Bass, or Sea-Dace, or Sea-Peech, is 
common on many coasts, and is considered by anglers as affording good sport. 
It seems, from the accounts of practical sportsmen, to bite with readiness at a bait, but to 
be a difficult fish to secure, on account of its tender mouth, its ingenious stratagems, and its 
great strength. AVhen hooked, it leaps, plunges, and swims with such force and swiftness, 
that the captor is forced to exercise the greatest skill in preventing it from breaking 
away. One of its favorite ruses is to double back under the boat, in hopes of cutting the 
GIANT PERCH AND COMMON PERCH.— Lucioperca sandra et Perea Jiuviatilis. 
line against the keel, or gaining a fixed point by which it may be able to drag the hook from 
its mouth. 
Even when fairly tired out, and drawn to the edge of the boat, it is by no means secured, 
for its scales are so hard that a very sharp blow of the gaff is needed to fix the hook in its 
side, and its gills and fins are so formidably armed, that it cannot be grasped with impunity. 
The spines of the dorsal fin, in particular, are strong and sharp as packing-needles, and the 
various portions of the operculum are edged with projecting teeth that cut like lancets. Many 
are the wounds that have been inflicted by the sudden twist and wriggle of the Bass, when 
grasped in a careless manner. When lifted into the boat, the hook is not to be taken from 
the mouth without some risk. 
It is a voracious fish, and derives its name of “ lupus,” or wolf, in consequence of its 
insatiate appetite. It feeds upon other fish and various inhabitants of the sea. Mr. Couch 
states that it is very fond of wood-lice, and is bold enough to venture among rocks in a tern' 
