The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-05-17

thing that the owner can capture
and not infrequently bass Is found
that has been killed in an effort TO
bolt O prey as large as itself
These habits make them dangerous
ito introduce into new waters. Ale
though they belong to the aristocracy
of fithes, they are social highwaymen,
and are not always desirable. They
have been introduced into several rsu-
ropean streams. and at frs. were
considered a great acquisition. but the
havoc that they wrought soon raised
an outcry against them. There are
serious drawbacks to introducing them
into rivers that furnish small but val
liable fisheries. for they are apt 10
cause a marked diminution in the
former residents, and. as cannibalism
Is not regarded with disfavor among
them, they will ultimately devour
their own spawn and fry so hiatt n
naliy the strem will contain neither
bass nor any other fish.
It is this Unsuitable appetite that
makes angling for bass one of the
mos. delightful OF sports, but the
fish Ia caricious in the extreme. en-
one day and bait presented will be
taken eagerly, while on another the
most tempting morsels will be re-
fused AS a rule the bass will take
a fly and will jump for 1t as pretttly
as a salmon, but it cannot be relied
on to do this, and as rule a hive
bate will be more killing. This power
of leaping is such a striking char
acteristic that 1t has caused then. to
be known as Jumpers" in some parts
of the country. especially in Kentucky
All anglers know that bass will junr
but it Ia especially impressed on any
one who has had occasion to try to
take them be SEEMING. This action
Is grossly unsportsmanlike, but SCI
encc often needs many specimens ana
this need demands some things that
conscience does not approve. In med
erateIy cold water 1t Ia almost impcs-
sibls to take bass in a net of the or
binary construction, as they viii leap
over the edge, but in warm, sluggish
streams they become indoient. An
aseni of the United States Bureau OF
Fisheries reports that on one OCCASION
when collecting spawning fish float
boat tweieve feet wide, was paled rap
idly from side to side in stream.
ana as the boat would approach the
bank the frightened fish would leap
out of the water and many of them
fell into the boat. One was seen
to clear the boat entirely, making a
horizontal leap of about fourteen feet.
The black bass In so widely dis
tributed that it has received mary
local names. The writer has more
than once been put to shame by fall
ing to recognize the fish under some
of these aliases, and with a view 20
saving his readers from similar dis
aster, list of some of the more com
mon ones Is given, The large
mouthed bass is known as the Oswego
bass, lake bass. green bass, yellow
bass, moss bass green bass. yellow
jumper, club and Welchman. In
Arkansas it Ia called a new light
or Campbellite: in Virginia and North
Carolina IL is called club or southern
chue. while further south 1t is often
called a trout AS the real trouts are
not found very far south. 1t Is gen-
eraily easy TO tell what Is meant BY
this term.
The smaiI-mouthed bass has as
many aliases as would a similar des-
perado among men. 1t passes as the
LAKE bass, brown bass. ninny bass,
hog bass, black perch (mainly in the
mountain district of Virginia. Ten
nessee and Kentucky t-out perch,
mountain trout Gin Alabama}, and
jumper. Care should he taken not
to confound the name brown trout "a
applied to the bass with the true
brown or Won Behr trout, or the term
mountain trout with the same name
used for the brook trout In Virginia
but the locality will usually distn-
guish them.
Life, History and Habits.
The time of spawning, manner oil
depcsiting the eggs and the period
of incubation are all different from
those of the salmons and trouts as
is the behavior of the parents dur
ing the Matching period their
treatment of the frey. In the northern
States spawning begins about the be-
ginning of May and in the Southern
states IL may commence In March.
but this depends largely on the tenn.
perature. al, OF the eggs are not
deposited at one spawning but they
are laid down at intervals during a
period of about two months. though
this depends largely on the weather.
1t occurs usually later in deep water
than in the shadows, but there are
sorne unknown factors that enter
which make all predictions liable TO
error.
When the spawning time ap-
proaches, the fish mate off in pairs
and begin to- prepare a nest. Both
the male and female take part In
this work, and they clear a hollow
palace in the gravel in which the
eggs are to iie No matter how dirty
or weed coated the gravel may 90
they rub at it with their fins until
every bit is thoroughly cleanedi tnen
they pile the pebbles into q circular
hear and excavate a depression In the
summit. At this time the males are
great fighters, and specimens are often
rseen that have been badly lacerated
from battles with larger or more
powerful fish. This mode of nest
building, though common. Is. like most
of their customs. not invariabie, and
they have green known to build a neEt
on mud in water less than three feet
deep and by the side of bank along
which people were constantly passing.
In the Missouri River and in Texas the
eggs are often laid on bare mud with
out any nest at all.
The eggs are heavy and as soon as
they are impregnated they sink to the
bottom and stick to the stones Of the
nest, where they are carefully guard
ed by the parents; one fish posing IT.
SELF over the nest and keeping off
sediment by gentle waving motion
of The fins, while the other stands
guard some ten feet away. A bass
while thus on guard. has been known
to kill a snake three times its own
length. and the most predacious fishes
have learned to keep at a respectful
distance. Tie eggs vary In size and
number reuefaify running from Gee