The bass family is composed mostly of marine fishes, nearly all of which are good game and food-fishes. These will be described among the fishes of the East Coast and Florida in subsequent pages. It is the most typical group among the percoid (perchlike) fishes. Only two species of the family inhabit fresh water,—the white-bass and the yellow-bass.

The fishes of this family are characterized by an oblong body, large mouth, brushlike or bristle-like teeth, sometimes with canines; one or two dorsal fins, the first always composed of spiny rays; the anal fin, always with three spines; scales adherent and rough (ctenoid); preopercle usually serrate; opercle with flat points or spines; cheeks and opercles always scaly; premaxillary protractile; dorsal and ventral outlines do not always correspond; caudal fin not deeply forked; its peduncle stout.

THE WHITE-BASS

(Roccus chrysops)

Roccus chrysops. The White-bass. Body oblong, deep, and compressed; head 3-1/2; depth 2-1\2; eye 5; D. IX-I, 14; A. III, 12; scales 10-60-15; mouth moderate, maxillary reaching middle of pupil; a patch of teeth at base of tongue, and a patch on each side; preopercle serrate; subopercle with a deep notch; lower jaw somewhat projecting; dorsal fins separate; gill-rakers long and slender, x + 14.

Morone interrupta. The Yellow-bass. 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-bass 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-bass and fresh-water striped-bass. 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-bass 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 spawns usually in May. It feeds on small fishes, crawfish, insects, and their larvÆ, 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 anchored 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-bass 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-bass 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 anchored 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-bass 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-bass in the Neenah channel of Lake Winnebago during the May-fly season, when the black-bass 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 anchored near my boat, and began fishing with heavy sinkers, as the water was very swift, and with small minnows for bait. The white-bass were not slow in taking the proffered minnows, and they caught a goodly number, but not a single black-bass; nor did I take a single white-bass during several hours of fishing, for they were lying among the rocks at the bottom.

In the rocky coves about the Bass Islands of Put-in-Bay, on Lake Erie, I have had really good sport, in the summer months, bait-fishing for white-bass, 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-bass. 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-bass fishing was not so good as in former years, though the black-bass seemed to have held their own pretty well. I might remark, in passing, that the upper Mississippi is one of the most beautiful and scenic rivers in the world, and is unsurpassed for black-bass fly-fishing. At one time the islands of that river furnished superb woodcock shooting in summer, which could be varied with fine fishing.

THE YELLOW-BASS

(Morone interrupta)

The yellow-bass 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 brassy-bass. 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-bass might be called a cousin of the white-bass, though it belongs to a different genus. It takes the place of that fish in the lower Mississippi Valley. Compared with the white-bass 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 brassy 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 clearwater bayous, and the foot of rapids and riffles. It is partial to the same character of food as the white-bass, small minnows constituting the greater part. It likewise spawns 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-bass on St. Francis River in Arkansas, and at the head of the Yazoo Pass, in Mississippi, with the same tackle and by similar methods as recommended for the white-bass on a prior page. As with the two black-basses and the two crappies, the white-bass and yellow-bass 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-bass 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 prone 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 ashore 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 gratitude, 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."