We had had great luck, taking in the last hour and a half seventy-three bass. It was a glorious sight when we arrived at home to see our fish laid out side by side, the mascallonge at their head, and tapering regularly down to a half-pound black bass. The latter do not average any great size, rarely exceeding three pounds and never known to be taken over six; but a day upon the St. Lawrence among those beautiful Thousand Isles, either in pursuit of the mighty mascallonge, the furious pickerel, or, best of all, the spirited black bass, will never be regretted by the poet or the sports man.
CHAPTER XXI.
STRIPED BASS.
Labrax Lineatus—Rock-fish of Pennsylvania and the South—Perca Labrax (Smith)—Sciena Lineata (Black.)
This fish, which has a large number of scientific names and several popular ones, belongs to the Perch family, has two spines on the after part of the gill-cover, and the margin of the fore gill-cover rough like the edge of a saw. Its color is bluish on the back, light on the sides, and white on the belly. The sides are marked by seven to nine longitudinal dark lines, from which its name is derived, the upper of which reach the tail, but the lower fade out above the anal fin. These lines sometimes are broken or consist of contiguous dots. The ventral fins are below and somewhat behind the pectorals, and have the first rays spinous. The fore part of the dorsal has nine spiny rays, and at the interval between that and the after part there is another small hard ray, while the after part is composed of twelve soft rays. The pectorals have sixteen soft rays, the ventrals one hard and five soft, the anal three hard and eleven soft, and the tail seventeen soft rays.
Whether the name Bass means Perch or not, I cannot say, although there is no such tradition among my Dutch ancestry, and I am unable to find the word in their Dutch dictionaries. There could, however, be no more creditable derivation, and as many authorities assert the fact, it is as well to let it pass. The fish are found along the coast from Maine to Florida, although they appear never to have visited Europe, and are the gamest salt water fish of our continent. In their season, which is at intervals from early Spring to late in Fall, they are taken on the bars and in every creek of our extensive coast. The net destroys the greater number, but they bite freely and fight bravely for their lives. Great skill and experience are requisite for their successful capture when they are shy and scarce, but when abundant or hungry, although always a dainty fish, they bite rapidly and boldly. Like the squid of the deep seas, these may be said to be the largest and smallest of fish; they are taken from an ounce to a hundred pounds’ weight.
The Striped Bass becomes an object of the angler’s attention in April, when he runs up the rivers to spawn. He ascends into cool fresh water, until arrested by a natural, or, too frequently, an artificial barrier. He is taken under the Cohoes Falls in the Mohawk, and at Albany and Troy in the Hudson, and reaches the very head-waters of the Delaware, where he is known as Rock-fish. Many, and those the largest, do not appear to leave the salt water, and are found in the small bays and inlets. In the fall, when the cold weather sets in, they retire to the salt water coves and lagoons, where they lie imbedded in the mud or hiding near the bottom, secure against danger, or discomfort from cold or storms. Advantage is taken of this peculiarity by the market fishermen, and there is a pond on Long Island, near Sag Harbor, and others near Point Judith, that are a source of great profit to their owners. The mill-pond at Stamford having carried away the gates one Winter, and run out nearly dry, striped bass of immense size were picked up by cart-loads from the muddy bottom.
These fish can be confined to fresh water without being permitted to visit the sea, and they will not only live and breed, but are said to be much improved by the change. In September they appear on the coast in shoals, and are taken both inside and outside of the bars, and in the bays and inlets where they resort for food. As they are much sought after and highly appreciated, and as I have added largely to my own knowledge by drawing extensively upon the experience of my friends, the following description of the numerous modes of taking them will be found rather minute.
When they first appear in April the shad are running, and hence, in the rivers that the latter frequent, shad roe is the best though most troublesome of all baits. In places where shad are not to be found, the bass are suspicious of such bait. As it is most difficult to fasten on the hook, it must be cut with the skin that envelops it, and tied on with tow, flax, or floss silk. Stonehenge, after eloquently defending the use of the salmon roe as a bait, which is ordinarily considered a kind of poaching, gives for its preparation the following directions, that apply equally well to the shad roe: Boil the roe without its envelope for twenty minutes; bruise it in a mortar to a uniform consistency; add to each pound an ounce of common salt and a quarter of an ounce of saltpeter; beat them together and store in an earthen jar covered with a bladder. Frank Forrester recommends that the roe be well washed and thoroughly dried in the air, salted with two ounces of rock salt and a quarter of an ounce of saltpeter to a pound of spawn, dried gently and potted down, covered with melted lard or suet in earthen jars. This, either fresh or potted, is a most effective bait for striped bass, but I confess for trout my experience is to the contrary.
In streams that the shad do not frequent, striped bass are taken early in the season with shrimp threaded on longitudinally, by passing the point of the hook under the back plates; as the season advances, and crabs shed their coats, with the shedder, or better, soft crabs; and in the Fall with shrimp, the bass, or barred killey, and the spearing. In fishing with shrimp—and it is a good bait all the season through, and must be tried when others fail—use a float fastened about three feet above a swivel sinker, to the lower swivel of which are to be attached two distinct gut leaders, one of three feet, the other of two. Single gut, if large, round, and true, is decidedly preferable to double, and the hook should never be a coarse, clumsy Limerick, which has such an undeserved reputation, but a delicate Carlisle, with a broad, round bend. If very large fish are expected—and they rarely are—use No. 0; but generally No. 3 is large enough. With crab the hook must be larger. I prefer always to have the point of the hook covered, and recommend that the shrimp should be bunched on till they hide the hook entirely, and form a round, attractive bait, composed of so many shrimp as no bass ever before saw together.
In June, and throughout the Summer, the crab is a better bait ordinarily than the shrimp. I prefer the soft crab, because it does not dull the point of the hook, as will sometimes happen with a shedder that is not quite ripe; it is easily cut up into proper baits, whereas the shedder has to be skinned, or, more properly, shelled—a long and nasty operation; it is always in good order whereas others, unless carefully selected, and kept just the right time, will tear to pieces in the course of preparation; and finally, the skin of the soft crab, especially as it verges toward the buckram, enables the hook to retain its hold. Judging from human nature, I fancy the fish must prefer a nice, soft, plump bait, to one that is jagged and half full of pieces of shell.