Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others Part 14

Since the introduction of the carp into the United States, some thirty years ago, it may now be said to inhabit every state in the Union, having escaped from the ponds in which it was placed at first, into almost every stream, especially in the Mississippi Valley.

The dorsal fin is single, extending from the middle of the back nearly to the tail, highest in front. In the typical scale-carp the scales are large, there being about thirty-eight along the lateral line, with five rows above it and five rows below. But domestication has greatly altered the squamation; thus in the leather-carp the body is naked, with the exception of a few very large ones on the back; in the mirror-carp there are a few rows of very large scales. The coloration is as variable as its scales. It is usually of some shade of olive or brown, with golden l.u.s.tre, darkest on the back, with the belly whitish or yellowish.

In Europe the carp hibernates, or remains dormant during the winter, burying itself in the mud of the bottom with its tail only exposed. In America it seems to have abandoned this habit almost entirely, especially in the more southern waters. It is not strictly, if at all, a herbivorous fish as has been alleged, but stirs up the bottom of ponds in search of minute animal organisms, rendering the water foul and muddy. It also devours the sp.a.w.n of other fishes, though some persons contend that it does not, which is absurd, when it is considered that almost all fishes are addicted to this natural vice. I know from my own observation that the carp is not exempt from the habit. It grows to a length of two feet under favorable conditions. One of twenty-four inches will weigh about ten pounds. As a food-fish it ranks below the buffalo or sucker. It sells readily, however, to negroes. Chinese, and Polish Jews of the cities.

I have no love for the German carp, but as it is now so plentiful in most waters, especially in the Mississippi Valley, and is constantly increasing in numbers, it may be well enough to devote a small s.p.a.ce to it as a game-fish. It is a very poor fish at best, and as the poor we have always with us, we will never be rid of it. In England, where it has existed for centuries, it is considered a very shy and uncertain fish to catch; and the larger the fish, the more difficult to circ.u.mvent. The best success, and the best is very poor, is met with on small, stagnant ponds, with comparatively small fish. English anglers use a small quill float and split-shot sinker, allowing the bait to just touch the bottom. They then stick the b.u.t.t of the rod in the ground and retire out of sight of the fish, watching the float meanwhile. They use for bait, worms, maggots, and pastes of various kinds, and usually ground-bait the "swims" to be fished, a day in advance.

Where the carp are large, five or six pounds, the rod, reel, and line recommended for black-ba.s.s fishing will subserve a good purpose. A leader three feet long, stained mud color, must be used, with small hooks, Nos. 7 or 8, tied on gut snells. One of the best baits is a red earthworm.

I think the hook can hardly be too small; Nos. 10 or 12 would probably be more successful than larger ones, as the fish is apt to eject the bait at once upon feeling the hook concealed in it. And this is especially important if such baits as bread paste, hard-boiled potato, or boiled grain are employed.

The carp has a peculiar mouth, and feeds much like the sucker. It draws in mud and water and food together, strains the water through the gills, expelling it by the gill-openings, and probably macerates the residue by means of the tongue and the cushiony lining of the buccal cavity before swallowing it. During this process of mouthing the bait the fish is very likely to discover the hook, if large, and eject it.

When once hooked, the fish is not to be lightly esteemed. The angler will have all he can attend to with a light rod in a weedy pond, or even in clear water if the fish is of large size. As most other game-fishes may in time disappear before the Asiatic carp, the a.n.a.logue of the Mongolian boxer, it may be well and prudent to learn some of the ways to outwit him. In China and j.a.pan the carp is considered before any other fish for food, and is emblematic of strength, vigor, and other good qualities. It is a custom in j.a.panese households, upon the birth of a male child, to hoist a flag representing a carp, in order that he may grow in strength and all manly attributes. In England the carp is not much liked. On the continent of Europe it is considered a good food-fish, but it is confined in clear running water to deprive it of its earthy flavor before it is marketed or eaten. It is likewise kept within proper bounds, although it has been cultivated for centuries. In the United States, however, it has spread over the Mississippi Valley and elsewhere from overflowed ponds until it bids fair to become a nuisance, inasmuch as our waters seem to be particularly suited to it.

As there are so many better species of food-fishes in this country, both in fresh and salt water, there was no excuse or necessity for its introduction, which I consider as great a calamity as that of the English sparrow or the Shanghai chicken, and adding a third foreign evil that we will never be rid of.

I have experimented with carp fishing, but I think the results were never twice alike. A great deal depends on the condition of the water.

In ponds that are kept constantly muddy by the rooting of the carp, it is difficult for them to see the bait, and they must then depend on the olfactory sense to find it. This may take a longer time than the patience of the angler will admit. When the water is clear, as on a stream, the carp is too apt to see the angler, and being naturally a shy fish will not go near the bait under these circ.u.mstances. There is then nothing to do but to fix the rod in the bank and lie down beside it, or behind a bush or screen, until the moving of the float announces the hooking of the fish. By using a small float, fine line, and very small hooks, and a variety of baits, as earthworms, boiled grain or vegetables, pastes of various kinds, and a good stock of patience, one may eventually succeed in taking a few fish; but the game is hardly worth the candle.

As the fish has its advocates, however, I add the following account of angling for carp in England, where it has been acclimated for several centuries. The directions given are abridged from Cornwall Simeon, a writer on natural history and angling:--

"The tackle required will simply be a long rod, a reel containing not less than fifty yards of fineish line, a fine but sound casting-line nearly as long as the rod, hooks of about No. 9 size tied on gut to match, and a small, unpretending float, besides a good lump of the crumb of new bread, and a landing-net. Select a quiet, shallow part of the pond, especially if the weather be hot, and near its edge stick a few small bushes as a screen. Then plumb the depth of the water, and cover the whole of your hook, leaving not the slightest part visible, with a piece of bread kneaded into paste, and setting the float two or three feet _farther from the bait_ than the depth of the water, throw it well out, drawing in afterward all the slack of your line. You may then rest your rod on a forked stick, and sitting down, smoke your pipe if you like, and proceed to ground-bait the place by filliping in bread pills all round your bait and pretty wide of it. The two great objects should be not to alarm the carp and to get them to feed. They are very timid, and if they once take fright at anything and leave a place in consequence, it will generally be a good while before they will return to it. For this reason I prefer not to throw in any ground-bait when fishing for them until all my preparations are made and the actual bait is in the water. When they begin to come to the bread, if the bottom is at all muddy and the water not too deep, you will see lines of mud stirred up by them as they come on, nuzzling in it like so many pigs.

You have then only to keep quiet and bide your time. The float will give you sufficient warning when to strike, and you should only do so when the carp is going well and steadily away with it. If your tackle is sound, and you are not intoo great a hurry, you may make pretty sure of landing him."

CHAPTER XI

THE CATFISH FAMILY

(_Siluridae_)

The catfish family is represented by many species in the United States.

They have the body entirely naked, barbels about the mouth, and an adipose fin, after the fashion of the fishes of the salmon family. They vary greatly in size, from the little stone-cat of three inches to the immense Mississippi-cat of nearly two hundred pounds. But one species will be noticed.

_Ictalurus punctatus._ The Channel-catfish. Body elongate, slender, compressed posteriorly; head 4; depth 5; eye large; D. I, 6; A. 25 to 30; head slender and conical; mouth small, upper jaw longest; barbels long, the longest reaching considerably beyond the gill opening; humeral process long and slender; caudal fin long and deeply forked.

THE CHANNEL-CATFISH

(_Ictalurus punctatus_)

The channel-cat was first described by Rafinesque, in 1820, from the Ohio River. He named it _punctatus_, or "spotted," owing to the black spots on its sides. It is also known as white-cat and blue-cat in various parts of its range. It is found in rivers of the Great Lake region and Mississippi Valley, and in the streams tributary to the Gulf of Mexico.

[Ill.u.s.tration THE CHANNEL-CATFISH]

[_Ictalurus punctatus_]

[Ill.u.s.tration THE SHEEPSHEAD]

[_Archosargus probatocephalus_]

[Ill.u.s.tration THE CUNNER]

[_Tautogolabrus adspersus_]

It is the most trimly-built of all the catfishes, with a long, slender body and small head. It is olivaceous or slate color above, sides pale and silvery, with small, round, dark spots; belly white; fins usually with dark edgings.

Unlike most of the catfishes the channel-cat is found only in clear or swift streams, never in still, muddy situations. It is a clean, wholesome fish, and feeds mostly on minnows and crawfish. It is a good food-fish, the flesh being white and firm and of a rich flavor. It grows to a weight of twenty pounds, occasionally, though usually to five or six pounds.

The channel-cat is a very fine game-fish. It takes the live minnow readily, also shedder crawfish, and will not refuse earthworms, cut butcher meat or liver. When hooked it is second to no other fish of its size as a bold, strong fighter beneath the surface. The angler who has "tackled," in a literal sense, a channel-cat of five pounds, on a light rod, can vouch for its gameness.

As it coexists with the black-ba.s.s in streams in the Mississippi Valley, and is usually taken by the angler when angling for that fish, the rod, reel, line, and hook recommended for the black-ba.s.s will be found eminently serviceable for the channel-cat. It is fond of the deep pools below mill-dams, and in the channels of streams off gravelly or rocky shoals, and near shelving banks and rocks. The method of casting the minnow for black-ba.s.s answers well for the channel-cat, though the casts should not be so frequently made, and more time should be allowed for the display of the minnow in mid-water.

Still-fishing with a small, live minnow for bait is the plan generally followed; and as the bait should be left to its own devices for several minutes at a time, a light float is sometimes useful for keeping it off the bottom. When crawfish, cut-bait, or worms are used, the float must always be employed for the same reason. The fish should be given several seconds to gorge the bait, and then hooked by an upward, short, and quick movement of the tip of the rod. When hooked it should feel constantly the strain of the bent rod, and no more line given than is actually necessary; otherwise the struggle will last a long time. No half-hearted measures will answer for the channel-cat, which has a wonderful amount of vitality. He must be subdued by the determined opposition of a good rod and a strong arm.

There are a number of other catfishes that are taken by angling, but none are worthy of the name of game-fishes, though as food they are nearly all to be commended. There are two other species of channel-cats, though neither is quite so good either as game-fishes or for food. They are the blue-cat, also known as chuckle-head cat (_Ictalurus furcatus_), which may be known by its more extensive a.n.a.l fin, which has from thirty to thirty-five rays, and its bluish silvery color, and with but few if any spots. The other is the willow-cat, or eel-cat (_Ictalurus anguilla_), of a pale yellowish or olivaceous color, without spots. Both of these fishes are found in southern waters from Ohio to Louisiana. The channel-cats are often called forked-tail cats, as they are the only catfishes that have the caudal fin deeply forked.

I think no one appreciates the gameness of the channel-catfish, or has such a just estimation of its toothsomeness, as the Kentucky darky. He will sit all day long, a monument of patience, on a log or rock at the edge of a "cat-hole" of the stream, with hickory pole, strong line and hook, and a bottle cork for a float. He baits his hook with a piece of liver or a shedder crawfish--"soft craw," he calls it, and only uses minnows when the other baits fail. Apropos of this love for the channel-cat may be related the true incident of the "cornfield" darky who, while fishing for cats, had the luck to hook a fine black-ba.s.s, which was landed after a "strenuous" struggle, to the envy of his companions. After surveying it with evident admiration awhile, he unhooked it, and with a profound sigh he deliberately threw it back into the stream to the amazement and disgust of the others. "Good Lawd, Jeff," exclaimed one, "w'at yo' done do dat fur? dat sholy wa' a good ba.s.s; must a weighed more'n a couple o'poun's!" He surveyed the group with supreme contempt for a moment before he replied, "W'en I go a-cattin'. I go a-cattin'." What greater tribute to the channel-cat than this!

On the other hand I was once fly-fishing on a black-ba.s.s stream in Kentucky, with a friend from Ohio who was casting the minnow. Having each made a good basket we were ready to quit, as the evening shadows were lengthening and the air was becoming decidedly cool. I was taking my rod apart, but my friend wanted to make "just one more cast," which happened to be on an inviting-looking "cat-hole." As I was tying the strings of my rod case I heard him exclaim joyfully. "I've got the boss ba.s.s of the season!" Turning, I perceived him wildly dancing on the edge of the pool, his rod bent to an alarming curve, and the strain on his line evidently near the danger point. I watched in vain for the leap of the ba.s.s, and then concluded he had business on hand for an uncertain period, for I felt sure that he had hooked a channel-cat of considerable avoirdupois. The fight was well sustained, and a gallant one on both sides; but it seemed impossible for the light rod to bring the fish near enough to slip the landing-net under it. Finally he backed away from the stream, drawing the fish close to the sh.o.r.e, where I netted it--a channel-cat of five pounds. When my friend saw what it was, he was the most disappointed and disgusted man in Kentucky. "Great Scott!" he yelled. "I nearly ruined my rod for a confounded catfish."--"Well," said I, "you had your fun; he put up a good fight; what more do you want?"--"Want! want!" he angrily cried, "I want to stamp the life out of the horrid brute; and I'll do it, too!" But I unhooked the fish and strung it on a willow branch. I had it stuffed and baked for our dinner next day, when he acknowledged that it was the best fish he ever ate, and was entirely consoled for the strain to his rod, to say nothing of his temper, and ever after had a better opinion of the channel-cat.

[Ill.u.s.tration FISHING FOR CUNNERS]

CHAPTER XII

THE SHEEPSHEAD FAMILY

(_Sparidae_)

This family embraces the sheepshead, porgies, and sea-breams. It is characterized princ.i.p.ally by a heavy, compressed body, strong jaws and teeth, the front ones incisor-like and broad, and flat, grinding teeth or molars in the back of the mouth, like a pavement of small, rounded pebbles, for crushing the sh.e.l.ls of mollusks.

_Archosargus probatocephalus._ The Sheepshead. Body short, deep, and compressed, with large scales; head 3-1/2; depth 2 to 2-1/2; eye 4; D. XII, 10 or 12; A. III, 10 or 11; scales 8-48-15; mouth large, nearly horizontal, maxillary 2-2/3 in head; incisors 3/4, entire in adult; molars in 3 series above and 2 below; gill-rakers about 3 + 6; dorsal and a.n.a.l spines notably heteracanthous; frontal bone between the eyes convex and honeycombed; occipital crest broad and honeycombed.

_Stenotomus chrysops._ The Scup. Body ovate-elliptical; head 3-1/2; depth 2; eye 4; D. XII, 12; A. III, 11; scales 8-50-16; profile steep; nape convex; a strong depression in front of the eye; snout short; temporal crest obsolete; incisor teeth narrow; molars in 2 rows above; gill-rakers small, about 6 + 10; caudal fin forked; top of head, snout, orbitals, and chin naked; a scaly sheath at base of soft dorsal and a.n.a.l fins; scales on cheeks.

THE SHEEPSHEAD

(_Archosargus probatocephalus_)

In his account of the fishes in the vicinity of New York, in 1788, Schopf, a surgeon in the British army, placed the sheepshead in the European genus _Sparus_, but gave it no specific name. From his description the ichthyologist Walbaum, in 1792, named it _probatocephalus_, which being translated means "sheep head." This fish inhabits the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Cape Cod to Texas, where it is common during the summer months, but it is especially abundant in the bays of Florida during the entire year. Its body is nearly half as deep as long, is much compressed, and elevated and arched over the shoulder.

The head is large, about a third of the length of the body, with a steep profile, rounded in front of the eyes, which with its incisor teeth bears a slight resemblance to the profile of a sheep. The mouth is large, with strong incisor teeth in front, and several series of molar teeth in both jaws. The general tint is dusky gray, with silvery l.u.s.tre, paling to the belly; about half a dozen broad, black bars cross the body, from above downward, very distinct in the young, but becoming fainter with age.

As might be inferred from the character of its teeth, the sheepshead resorts to mussel shoals, oyster bars, bridge piers, and old wrecks, where mussels and barnacles abound, and on which it feeds, pinching them from their beds with its strong incisor teeth and crushing them with its molars. It is gregarious, feeding in schools, especially in southern waters, several hundred having been taken on a single tide at places in Florida. It appears in northern waters in June and disappears in the fall, probably wintering at great depths of the sea contiguous to the coast. Its usual maximum weight in northern waters is from three to six pounds, though occasionally reaching ten, fifteen, or even twenty pounds, though these heavy fish are exceedingly rare. Its average size in Florida is less than in the North.

It is highly esteemed on the East Coast as a dinner fish, baked or boiled, and owing to its fine flavor has been called the turbot of America, though it is really much superior, in northern waters, to that vaunted aldermanic delicacy. In Florida, however, it is very lightly esteemed as a food-fish, and is seldom eaten where other and better fishes are available. Perhaps its abundance has something to do with its depreciation, though I am convinced, from numerous trials and tests, that it is not so good a fish in southern waters as in the North, having a sharp, saline taste that is not agreeable to most palates. While confined to salt and brackish waters in the North, it often ascends the rivers of Florida to fresh water. I have seen it in the large springs, the head waters of several rivers on the Gulf coast, its barred sides being plainly discernible on the bottom at a depth of fifty or seventy-five feet, in the clear and crystal-like water.