Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others Part 5

_Morone interrupta._ The Yellow-ba.s.s. Body oblong, ovate, the back arched; head 3; depth 2-2/3; eye 4-1/2; D. IX-I, 12; A.

III, 9; scales 7-50-11; dorsal fins slightly joined; jaws subequal; no teeth on base of tongue; gill-rakers moderate, _x_ + 13 to 16; preorbital and suprascapula serrate.

The white-ba.s.s was first described by Rafinesque in 1820 from the falls of the Ohio River, near Louisville, Kentucky. He named it _chrysops_, or "gold eye," owing to the golden hue of the iris. It is known also as white lake-ba.s.s and fresh-water striped-ba.s.s. It is abundant in Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, and upper Mississippi River, especially in Lake Pepin, and in Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin. It was formerly not uncommon in the Ohio River, but is now rare. Its body is compressed and rather deep, with the back arched; its head is rather small, but the mouth is large, with the lower jaw protruding; the eye is large; teeth brushlike, without canines. The color is silvery white, greenish above, golden below, with six or more narrow dusky lines along the body, most conspicuous above the lateral line; those below broken, or not continuous. The white-ba.s.s is found in water of moderate depth, preferring those that are clear and cool, as it does not resort to weedy situations. It is essentially a lake fish, except in spring, when it undergoes a semi-migration, entering the tributaries of lakes in large schools. It sp.a.w.ns usually in May. It feeds on small fishes, crawfish, insects, and their larvae, etc. Its usual size is a pound or a little less, but occasionally it grows to three pounds. It is a food-fish of much excellence, its flesh firm, white, flaky, and of good flavor.

It is one of the best fresh-water game-fishes, being a bold biter, and on light and suitable tackle affords much sport to the appreciative angler. For fly-fishing, the best season is during the spring, when it enters the tributary streams of lakes. At this time the fly-fisher will be successful at any hour of the day. He may fish from the bank or from an anch.o.r.ed boat, the latter plan being the best. As the fish are swimming in schools, either headed up or down stream, no particular place need be selected, though off the points at the edge of the channel, or in the narrowest portions of the streams, are perhaps the best. In the summer and fall the fish are in the lakes or deeper water, when the fishing will be more successful during the late afternoon hours until sundown, and the angler may be guided by the conditions followed in black-ba.s.s fly-fishing, as mentioned in a previous chapter.

A trout fly-rod of six or seven ounces, with the usual trout click reel and corresponding tackle, will subserve a good purpose. When the fish are running in the streams the most useful flies are gray drake, green drake, stone fly, brown hackle, gray hackle, Henshall, and Montreal, of the usual trout patterns, on hooks Nos. 5 to 7.

For bait-fishing, a light black-ba.s.s or trout rod, with multiplying reel, braided silk line of the smallest caliber, a leader of small gut three feet long, and hooks Nos. 3 or 4 tied on gut snells, will answer well. The best and in fact the only bait that can be successfully used is a small minnow, hooked through the lips. The fishing is done from an anch.o.r.ed boat on lakes or the deep pools of streams, either by casting or still-fishing.

No fish will rise to the artificial fly except in comparatively shallow water, or when near the surface, and this is especially true of the white-ba.s.s when it resorts to the depths after the spring run is over. I remember a striking instance of this that once occurred in Wisconsin. I was fishing for black-ba.s.s in the Neenah channel of Lake Winnebago during the May-fly season, when the black-ba.s.s were taking the artificial fly right along, being near the surface feeding on the natural flies, though the water was quite deep, with a rocky bottom. A party of bait-fishers anch.o.r.ed near my boat, and began fishing with heavy sinkers, as the water was very swift, and with small minnows for bait. The white-ba.s.s were not slow in taking the proffered minnows, and they caught a goodly number, but not a single black-ba.s.s; nor did I take a single white-ba.s.s during several hours of fishing, for they were lying among the rocks at the bottom.

In the rocky coves about the Ba.s.s Islands of Put-in-Bay, on Lake Erie, I have had really good sport, in the summer months, bait-fishing for white-ba.s.s, with light tackle, the fish running about two pounds; but with the fly my success was generally _nil_, as they were in deep water, and nothing but minnows would attract them. But in the upper Mississippi, notably on Lake Pepin, the case was different. About the rocky points of that beautiful lake, and in the clear water of the river below, I have enjoyed royal sport fly-fishing for white-ba.s.s. This was years ago. Afterward I made a trip in a steam yacht from Cincinnati to St. Paul, traversing the Mississippi from Cairo to the head of navigation, and also going up the St. Croix River to Taylor's Falls. On this trip the white-ba.s.s fishing was not so good as in former years, though the black-ba.s.s seemed to have held their own pretty well. I might remark, in pa.s.sing, that the upper Mississippi is one of the most beautiful and scenic rivers in the world, and is unsurpa.s.sed for black-ba.s.s fly-fishing. At one time the islands of that river furnished superb woodc.o.c.k shooting in summer, which could be varied with fine fishing.

THE YELLOW-Ba.s.s

(_Morone interrupta_)

The yellow-ba.s.s was first described by Dr. Theodore Gill in 1860. His type specimens were from the lower Mississippi River in the vicinity of St. Louis and New Orleans. He named it _interrupta_, in allusion to the broken or "interrupted" lines along its sides. It is also known as bra.s.sy-ba.s.s. It belongs to the same genus as the white-perch of the East Coast. It is found only in the lower Mississippi River and its tributaries, sometimes extending its range a short distance up the Ohio River.

The yellow-ba.s.s might be called a cousin of the white-ba.s.s, though it belongs to a different genus. It takes the place of that fish in the lower Mississippi Valley. Compared with the white-ba.s.s it has a somewhat longer head, with a body not quite so deep; otherwise the general shape is much the same. The mouth is a little larger, though the snout does not project quite so much, and the profile of the head is straighter, and it has a larger eye. The posterior border of the cheek-bone is finely serrated.

The general color is bra.s.sy or yellowish, darker on the back and lighter on the belly. There are about half a dozen very distinct and black longitudinal lines along the sides, the lower ones broken or "interrupted," the posterior portions dropping below the anterior, like a "fault" in a stratum of rocks.

It is fond of the deeper pools in the rivers and clear-water bayous, and the foot of rapids and riffles. It is partial to the same character of food as the white-ba.s.s, small minnows const.i.tuting the greater part.

It likewise sp.a.w.ns in the spring, and grows to a pound or two in weight, sometimes reaching three pounds. It is an excellent food-fish.

I have had good sport with the yellow-ba.s.s on St. Francis River in Arkansas, and at the head of the Yazoo Pa.s.s, in Mississippi, with the same tackle and by similar methods as recommended for the white-ba.s.s on a prior page. As with the two black-ba.s.ses and the two c.r.a.ppies, the white-ba.s.s and yellow-ba.s.s having similar habits and kindred tastes, the same tackle and the same modes of angling are as well suited for one as for the other. This will apply to both fly-fishing and bait-fishing.

I was once, one autumn, with a party on a river steam yacht on the lower Mississippi when geese, ducks, deer, and turkeys were more plentiful than they are now. Up the St. Francis River, in the "sunk lands" of Arkansas, the yacht was moored at Cow Bayou, near a steep clay bluff, on the top of which was a dilapidated tent occupied by a young man and his wife, who were building a shanty boat in which to float down to sunnier climes for the winter, as the man was "nigh gone" with consumption. One morning I was out early fishing for yellow-ba.s.s after a rainy night. As I was landing a fish I saw the woman at the top of the bluff, looking for a way down to the yacht. She was quite a fresh and comely-looking woman, too. She started down very carefully, for the wet clay was quite slippery. I became interested to see how she would succeed. Suddenly her bare feet slipped from under her, and she came down with a rush, her one garment, as I soon discovered, an old calico gown, slipping back over her head, disclosing her nude form, which appeared very white in contrast to the red clay. Then I looked the other way just as she flopped over from a p.r.o.ne to a supine position. When she reached the river side she looked like a sculptor's model in clay. She quietly adjusted her gown as if nothing unusual had occurred, and asked: "Has you-uns got any matches? We-uns' matches all got wet in the drizzle last night, and I want to cook my old man's breakfus." I pulled ash.o.r.e and handed her my matchbox, and scarcely knowing what to say, I remarked.

"You had better change your dress before you cook breakfast." She replied, "I hain't got another one."

While the boys were eating their breakfast of fried fish, deer steak, and broiled duck, I related the "toboggan" episode, and mentioned the "one frock." When the meal was concluded the boys overhauled their belongings and chipped in several pairs of slippers, long woollen stockings, underclothing, and blankets, and the "skipper" threw in some calico and muslin from the yacht's stores. These were made into bundles and carried to the top of the bluff by a more circuitous route.

Proceeding to the tent they deposited their offerings, together with some ducks and venison. The man and woman were overcome with grat.i.tude, but the boys said they were glad to get rid of the stuff. The skipper had taken his camera along to get a snap-shot at the tent and its occupants, which being made known to them the woman said. "Wait a minnit!" She went into the tent, but immediately reappeared wearing a large sun-bonnet, in which she was "took" with her "old man." I have often wondered since why she put on that sun-bonnet. My excuse for this digression may be found in the memorable words of George Dawson, "It is not all of fishing to fish."

CHAPTER III

THE Ba.s.s FAMILY (_CONTINUED_)

(_Serranidae_)

In addition to the fresh-water species of this family and those of the East Coast are the groupers, cabrillas, etc., of Florida waters, to be noticed later. The family name is founded on Cuvier's genus _Serra.n.u.s_, from the Latin _serra_, or "saw," in allusion to the serrated edge of the cheek-bones, common to all fishes of this family.

_Roccus lineatus._ The Striped-ba.s.s. Body rather elongate, little compressed; head 3-1/4; depth 3-1/2; eye 6; D. IX-I, 12; A. III, 11; scales 8-67-11; back little arched; head subconical; mouth large, maxillary reaching middle of orbit; lower jaw projecting; teeth on base of tongue in two parallel patches; preorbital entire; preopercle weakly serrate; margin of subopercle entire; suprascapula entire; gill-rakers long and slender, 4 + 15; dorsal fins separate; caudal fin forked.

_Morone americana._ The White-perch. Body oblong, ovate, the back moderately elevated; head 3; depth 2-1/2; eye 4; D. IX-I, 12; A. III, 8; scales 8-50-12; head depressed above eyes; snout rather pointed; mouth small, maxillary not reaching middle of orbit; preorbital entire; base of tongue without teeth; head scaled; dorsal fins connected at base; gill-rakers 4 + 16.

_Centropristes striatus._ The Sea-ba.s.s. Body robust, elevated anteriorly, somewhat compressed; head 2-2/3; depth 2-2/3; eye 5; D. X, 11; A. III, 7; scales 5-55-17; head large and thick, naked on top; mouth rather large, lower jaw projecting; teeth in broad bands, the canines small; preopercle serrate; gill-rakers long, about _x_ + 18; scales on cheeks in 11 rows; caudal fin double concave or three-lobed.

THE STRIPED-Ba.s.s

(_Roccus lineatu_)

The specific name _lineatus_, or "striped," was bestowed by Bloch in 1792. North of the Delaware River it is universally called striped-ba.s.s, but in more southern waters it is known as rock or rockfish, from its habit of foraging on rocky sh.o.r.es in search of crustaceans and small fishes. From this vernacular name comes the generic name _Roccus_. It is found from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida, but is most abundant from Buzzards Bay to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It has been successfully transplanted to the Pacific coast, where it is now common near San Francisco.

The form of the striped-ba.s.s varies considerably with age. Young specimens are rather slender and symmetrical in outline, the depth being about a fourth of the length. The depth increases with the weight of the fish, while the back becomes more arched, and the belly more pendulous. The head equals in length the depth of the body usually.

The mouth is large, opening obliquely; the snout is rather sharp, and the lower jaw projects. The color is olivaceous, often bluish on the back, sides with silvery l.u.s.tre, fading to white on the belly. There are six to eight horizontal rows of dark spots, forming interrupted stripes, four or five running from head to caudal fin, with three shorter ones below; the fins are pale and usually unmarked. It is found within the range given during the entire year, though it frequents certain situations at different seasons. The largest fish resort to the rocky sh.o.r.es of the bays and indentations of the coast between the sh.o.r.es and outer reefs, those of smaller size frequent the estuaries and tideways, and still smaller ones seek the shallower and quieter waters.

[Ill.u.s.tration SURF-FISHING FOR Ba.s.s]

It sp.a.w.ns in the spring, usually in May, in both fresh and brackish water. Large schools ascend rivers for long distances in the spring, more particularly those rivers resorted to by the shad, which they seem to follow, perhaps for the purpose of feeding on shad sp.a.w.n, as they are said to do. Others follow the smelt up certain rivers farther north. A large female will deposit from a million to two million eggs, which are about one-seventh of an inch in diameter, are free, transparent, and semi-buoyant, and hatch in a few days. Owing to a large oil-drop in the front part of the yolk-sac, the young fry at first swim with the head toward the surface of the water, and not in the horizontal position usual with the fry of most fishes.

Its food consists of small fishes, crabs, lobsters, shrimps, squids, sandworms, and other marine invertebrates. It grows to a very large size, being frequently taken by anglers from thirty to sixty pounds, and in the nets of fishermen as heavy as one hundred pounds or more. In the city of Baltimore, in boyhood days, I often went to the fish markets on Sat.u.r.days to see and admire the various kinds of fishes. On one occasion there were several large rockfish being weighed on the old-time balance, consisting of a beam and two large, flat, wooden scales supported by chains. The largest fish did not weigh quite two fifty-six-pound weights. A man then asked me how much I weighed, and I replied one hundred and three pounds. I was then placed on the scale instead of the weights, with the result that the fish outweighed me perhaps a pound or two. At all events it weighed between one hundred and three and one hundred and twelve pounds--probably one hundred and five pounds. It was as long as an average man.

The striped-ba.s.s is a food-fish of fine quality, and the markets of the eastern cities are well supplied with it during summer and fall, and to a certain extent during the winter. It is very active from early spring until late in the fall, when it resorts to the back-waters and bayous of tidal rivers for the winter. It is said by some to hibernate, but this is doubtful. The opinion is probably due to the fact that it is more sluggish and listless while in winter quarters, and refuses to respond to the wiles of the angler.

That the striped-ba.s.s is a game-fish of high degree goes without saying.

It is rated by some enthusiastic anglers as being superior even to the salmon in game qualities. This opinion, however, is hardly correct when the two are compared weight for weight. In surf-fishing the first rush of a large fish, upon feeling the hook, is something to be remembered.

It is probably longer and stronger than that of a salmon of equal weight, for the reason that while the latter fish is leaping from the water in its efforts to escape, the ba.s.s is making his furious dash for liberty beneath the surface, and exerting every ounce of his muscular fibre in the effort. But this immense strain cannot long be continued, and as he seldom breaks water like the salmon, and does not sulk, he resorts to strategy and finesse to free himself.

After making several desperate but ineffectual rushes to escape, he may endeavor to chafe or part the line against sharp rocks, or to foul it among the kelp or sea-weeds. Sometimes, but not often, he dives toward the angler to obtain slack line, which is a dangerous move if the reel does not respond quickly in taking up the loose line. When it is considered that all of these manoeuvres of a monster ba.s.s to free himself occur amidst the rolling and tumbling of the surf, or in the dashing of foam-crested combers, while the angler often has but a precarious footing on a slippery rock, and perhaps with a half gale of wind blowing, some idea may be formed of the skill and good judgment required to subdue and land so valorous a fish. And under such conditions it is very natural for the angler to rank his n.o.ble quarry with the salmon.

When a Baltimore boy I thought there was no better sport than still-fishing for rockfish running from a half to a pound or two, on the flats off Fort McHenry, the Lazaretto, or up the Patapsco River near the Long Bridge. It was good sport, too, for the fish were plentiful in those days, and from an anch.o.r.ed boat, with light cane rod and shrimp bait, I was often on the ground to catch the young flood tide at sunrise, or before, on summer mornings, and seldom failed to be rewarded with a full basket of small striped-ba.s.s.

[Ill.u.s.tration CATCHING SEA-Ba.s.s OFF NEWPORT]

Still-fishing in summer is best practised in comparatively shallow water in the estuaries, at the edge of the tideways, near the mouths of rivers, or up streams of good size as far as the tide reaches. In some cases the fishing may be done from bridges, piers, wharves, or from the bank, but usually from an anch.o.r.ed boat. In the estuaries and at the mouths of rivers the first of the flood and the last of the ebb are usually the best stages of the tide. In the shallow bays and lagoons, or far up the rivers, the full tide is the most favorable time. For this fishing the rod should be light, pliable, and not more than nine feet in length. A black-ba.s.s rod can be utilized to good advantage. The best rod for the purpose, however, is the "Little Giant," a modification of the Henshall black-ba.s.s rod. It is in two pieces, seven and one-half feet long, and weighs eight ounces in ash and lancewood, or seven ounces in split bamboo. It is stiffer than the Henshall rod, so that a two or four-ounce sinker can be used with it whenever necessary. A good multiplying reel must be employed with black-ba.s.s rods. The line should be fifty yards of braided linen, smallest size, with a three-foot leader of single gut; Sproat or O'Shaughnessy hooks Nos. 1 or 2 on gut snells are large enough for ba.s.s up to two or three pounds. A small float is useful on gra.s.sy bottom with shrimp or crab bait, and sinkers of weights in accordance with the strength of the tidal current must be employed, also a landing-net.

Shrimps, soft or shedder crabs, soft-sh.e.l.led clams, sandworms, small minnows, silversides, spearing or killifishes, are all good baits in their season. Shrimp is perhaps the best all-round lure. It should be hooked under the back plates, and a single shrimp is sufficient for small ba.s.s. Shedder or soft crab should be cut in small pieces. The scallop is likewise an attractive bait, especially in the fall, when clam bait may also be used to advantage. Early in the spring shad roe may be used in quiet waters, or at slack tide, but it is a difficult and unpleasant bait to handle.

The bait should be from one to three feet above the bottom, and should be kept in motion. Even crab bait should not be allowed to lie on the bottom, as some anglers advise. To maintain the proper position and depth of the bait the angler may employ a float, with or without a sinker, as the exigencies or conditions demand.

Very often hand-lines or stiff cane poles are used in estuary fishing, and the ba.s.s, even when of several pounds in weight, are yanked out of the water into the boat at once. But with the tackle recommended above the pleasure of the angler is enhanced, and the fish given a chance for his life in the brief struggle that follows.

In trolling for fish of from three to ten pounds a natural bamboo rod, eight or nine feet long, answers well with one hundred yards of braided linen line, size E or F, and Sproat hooks No. 2-0 to 3-0 on gut snells.

Where the ba.s.s run larger, two hundred feet of line, size E, with hooks Nos. 5-0 to 6-0 may be required, also a heavier rod. The baits for trolling are bloodworms of large size, a minnow hooked through the lips, the natural squid or an eel-tail; also the artificial squid of bone or block tin, or a trolling-spoon or spinner with a single hook.

When the spoon or artificial squid is used it is not necessary or advisable to add sandworms or other natural bait, as is often done.

Employ one or the other, but never both in combination. The artificial baits are sufficiently attractive in themselves, and the additions mentioned do not enhance their effectiveness. The boat should be rowed alongsh.o.r.e, or over rocky reefs or shoals, and about the eddies of rock pools. As the fish always hooks itself in trolling, it only remains for the angler to play and land his quarry in good form, always having a large landing-net or gaff in the boat.

Casting menhaden bait from the rocky sh.o.r.es of the coast requires tools and tackle of great excellence and strength, as the largest ba.s.s are taken in this way. The most approved rod is a first-cla.s.s split-bamboo, eight or eight and one-half feet long, and weighing from twelve to sixteen ounces. A more serviceable rod, that is, one that will admit of harder usage, is made of greenheart, lancewood, or bethabara, of the same length, but somewhat heavier. A cheaper rod, but one that will give good satisfaction, and withal is lighter than a wooden rod, is made of natural male Calcutta bamboo, and is known as a "chum" rod. Rods of eight or eight and one-half feet in length should be made in two or three pieces, or if not exceeding seven and one-half feet may be made of one six-foot piece with a handle of eighteen inches. They should have double bell-mouth guides and funnel top. The more expensive rods should have the guides, or at least the funnel top, lined with agate.

The reel must be a first-cla.s.s multiplier, made expressly for surf-fishing, with jewelled or steel bearings, with a capacity of two hundred yards of from twelve to eighteen-thread Cuttyhunk line. The hooks should be k.n.o.bbed Sproat or O'Shaughnessy, Nos. 5-0 to 7-0, and attached to the line by two half-hitches, the loose end turned up and secured by another half-hitch. A long-handled gaff-hook of good steel and very sharp is indispensable. A chum knife and spoon are also necessary, and a woollen thumb-stall will be needed for thumbing the reel, or a piece of leather may be affixed to one of its bars as a brake.