Fish

“ Open up, and throw to me your fish and shining crabs! With my best bait shall I allure to myself today the strangest human fish!
-My happiness itself do I throw out into all places far and wide 'twixt orient, noontide, and occident, to see if many human fish will not learn to hug and tug at my happiness;-
Until, biting at my sharp hidden hooks, they have to come up to my height, the motleyest abyss-groundlings, to the wickedest of all fishers of men. ”

“ If we could dive under the water and watch the fishes at home we should see at once how much more agile and easy the bony fish are in their movements than their gristly companions. Look at a shoal of silvery herrings as they swim and leap and gambol, or a fine salmon sailing up the river or springing over a waterfall, or a tiny stickleback darting across the stream, and compare their graceful motion with the ponderous though powerful movements of an unwieldy shark. ”

“ The fish swimming along in its neighbourhood,—the birds which, rising from the reeds, skim by overhead,—the animals which come to the banks to drink,—even man himself, have cause to dread a blow from the snout, and the powerful coils of the huge water-serpent. Its appearance is most hideous, being very broad in the middle, and tapering abruptly at both ends. Fish, and the smaller animals, it swallows whole; but a larger animal it seizes by the nose with its powerful jaws, and surrounds with the mighty coils of its huge body, pressing one coil upon another till it crushes its prey to death. ”

“ Far down in its transparent depths we could distinctly see every tint and every movement of the smallest fish, just as clearly, in fact, as we could see the movement and brilliant hues of the birds and insects flitting to and fro between the trees overhead. ”

“ But if we have fishes who can shoot their game, we have also fishes who can fish for it; ay, and fish for it with rod and line, and bait, as deftly as ever angler coaxed gudgeons from the ooze of the New River or salmon from the flashing torrent of the Spey. ”

“ Ten, twenty, and in half a second hundreds of immense fish come trooping up, and, undeterred by our presence, approach as near as they dare to the surface of the water where he stands; they swim backwards and forwards, and lash the water with their tails. ”

“ When a Fish comes within reach, with great rapidity the King-fisher darts upon it, seizing it in its powerful mandibles, and after destroying it by compression, or by knocking it against a stone or the trunk of a tree, swallows it head foremost. ”

“ The fish is a cold-blooded creature to whom the heart does not seem to go out in sympathy to any extent; the slimy scales do not invite the contact of the fingers like the warm fur of a deer or the soft down of a duck ”

“ When one sees these noble fish congested by thousands at the foot of some waterfall up which not one in a hundred is able to leap, or observes them ascending the brooks in the distant mountains where there is not sufficient water to cover them, gasping, bleeding, dying, but pushing upward with their last breath, the figure of the crusaders in quest of an ancient patrimony arises in the mind, so strong is the simile and so active is your sympathy with the fish. ”

“ Lo! I hooked a fish that made a savage rush, pulled my bass-rod out of shape, and took all my line before I could stop him. Then he swept from side to side. I reeled him in, only to have him run out again and again and yet again. I knew I had a heavy fish. I expected him to break my line. I handled him gingerly. Imagine my amaze to beach a little fish that weighed scarcely more than two pounds! ”

“ LOBSTER.—This fish, which is continually before our eyes, and only looked upon as an article of food, is, without doubt, one of the wonders of the creation. A creature destitute of bones, yet furnished with a stomach capable of digesting the hardest substances, even its own shell, which it doffs once a year, when it is too small for it; without blood circulating through its body, yet strong and active. ”

“ When it dashes into a school of smaller fish, these fins whirl about in every direction, and as they are often four feet long they easily reach more than one hapless fish and he is swept into the yardwide mouth of the monster and devoured with almost lightning speed. ”

“ In about half an hour, all the smaller fish, over a wider space than that which he has sprinkled with the juice, rise to the surface, floating on their sides, with their gills wide open. So powerful is its nature, that but a slight quantity appeal’s sufficient to stupify them. ”

“ For pelagic fish, a baited hook is drawn swiftly over the surface, with a "spoon" attached which looks like a living fish. In the rivers a line is attached to a pole, and when fish are caught for pleasure or for the joy of being in the woods, recreation rises to the dignity of angling. ”

“ To gaff a clean fish is to mar one of the most beautiful objects of sport. My plan is to draw the nose of the fish to the edge of the water, then lay down the rod, and instantaneously grasp the root of the tail firmly with one hand, whilst the other hand, under the head of the fish, assists to place it the next moment high and dry upon the bank. ”

“ Though it p'rhaps may be late,
Still the fish at the end of your line is half caught."
An hour passed, and every gleam of light
Flies, with the sun afraid of gloomy night.
Yet still our friend is in the selfsame plight,
The fish is lively, though he's wearied quite. ”

“ If we fish in waters known to us, we may be pretty sure of what we shall not get, but even in our most familiar creeks and rivers, who can say that the fish which is tugging at our line is certainly a perch, a cat-fish, or an eel? We know that we shall not pull up a shad or a salmon, but there is always a chance for some of those great prizes which are to be found, by rare good luck, in every river and good-sized stream; a rock-fish, or striped-bass perhaps, or a pike, or enormous chub. ”

“ Now—put your Green-drake on; and throw, regardless of bank-fishing or any other rule, wherever you see a fish rise. Do not work your flies in the least, but let them float down over the fish, or sink if they will; he is more likely to take them under water than on the top. And mind this rule: be patient with your fish; and do not fancy that because he does not rise to you the first or the tenth time, therefore he will not rise at all. ”

“ The Fish in Action.—The fish is, like any other animal, a machine to convert food into power. It devours other animals or plants, assimilates their substance, takes it over into itself, and through its movements uses up this substance again. ”

“ Fish are more affected than quadrupeds by slight and even imperceptible differences in their breeding places and feeding grounds. Every river, every brook, every lake stamps a special character upon its salmon, its shad, and its trout, which is at once recognized by those who deal in or consume them. ”

“ In a fish country he searches for fish and occasionally catches live ones; but he is too restless or shiftless to be a good fisherman. I have seen him catch fish by thrusting his nose in root entanglements in the edge of a brook; sometimes he captures salmon or trout that are struggling through shallow ripples. ”

“ I would assent; "and up north we have fish that go into hiding and sleep all winter, like the bears; and some that make nests for their eggs, and guard them, and take care of their young ones like a hen broods her chicks. And in some countries there are fish that crawl out on the land, and climb trees like squirrels." ”

“ IN the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so! Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ‘Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale’s right ear, so as to be out of harm’s way. ”

“ No sooner does it spy a fish suited to its taste, than it checks its course with a sudden shake of its wings and tail, which gives it the appearance of being poised in the air for a moment, after which it plunges headlong with great rapidity into the water, to secure its prey, or continue its flight, if disappointed by having observed the fish sink deeper. ”

“ As I told you, fish eat fish and insects and crabs and such living things. Some few are feeders on vegetables. Fish will also devour almost anything that is thrown into the water for them. Did you ever feed fish in a pond with bread and worms?
Carp will hurry to the top of the water to get food that they have learned to look for when people come near. Fish of a kind often keep together and feed together. You know in a stream there may be some places where you will catch only trout, or only bullheads. ”

“ No doubt the bright and well-washed fish, surrounded with lumps of ice, look far more tempting than the boat-load all smeared with blood, yet the fish would be much better if they did not see fresh water until they are to be dressed at home. ”

“ Their food principally consists of fish, which they spear in shallow places, as they never venture above the knees in water, with their own will; and it is a strange and singular fact, that none of them swim. ”

“ So far as one feels friendly towards a fish it is a fellow feeling. You know people like this or that cod, as one knows people like certain sheep, dogs, and horses. And a very short acquaintance with fish convinces you that not only is there a type of face belonging to each species, but that individual countenances vary, as with us. ”

“ The little fish, from the time they are out of the egg, until they are about half grown, are called fry. Some fish, as the salmon, get different names at different periods of their growth. A great many fish together are called a school. Thousands of fish will come leaping, rolling, and tumbling along in the water, and we say it is a school of fish. ”

“ When fish show an unusual tenacity of life, that is, after being gutted and cleaned, exhibit strong muscular action for some time after, that this phenomenon invariably precedes a change of some kind in the weather, usually more wind or heavier sea. ”

“ Wherever you see a fish rise, when fishing with this or the Flesh Fly, you may count upon him as your own four times out of six, if you only contrive to make a light and dexterous cast, over the place where you observe the fish rise. ”

“ Fish inhabit all kinds of water, the sea, rivers, and ponds, and many which live habitually in the sea come into rivers at certain seasons; and with respect to those which dwell always in the sea, some inhabit certain tracts only, and confine themselves to them, just as quadrupeds do to certain localities on the land. ”

“ The fish walks, or rather shambles along ungracefully, by the shuffling movement of a pair of stiff spines placed close behind his head, aided by the steering action of his tail, and a constant snake-like wriggling motion of his entire body. ”

“ The idea of the flying fish, the fish that leaves the water and takes for a moment to the air, does not seem to have exhausted itself till we reach the walking fish of tropical America, or the tree-climbing fish of India. ”

“ The fish are always arranged to economise space: when the head of a young fish points to the head of its mother, the next to it is reversed, and looks towards the tail. I am quite convinced that the young fish are packed away by doubling or folding the sac in the way I have endeavoured to describe. ”

“ In giving judgment in the case of the northern fishermen, we feel the great need which exists for a larger knowledge of the natural history of fishes. The men engaged in the fisheries know nothing of it whatever. They will tell you, perhaps, that when the gulls are perched upon the high rocks, the herrings are far from land, and when these birds hover about the shore, that the fish are not a long distance off. Such rude wisdom as this is the extent of their fish lore. ”

“ Fish move from place to place along many miles of sea-coast or river, as they seek their especial food, or a certain warmth.
Sometimes a particular fish, or pair of fishes, will live for years in some certain place. They may find a nice spot under a bank, where they feel safe, and where plenty of food drifts near them. ”

“ The mouths of such streams are much frequented by all kinds of fish. The deep, well-like spots amongst the beds of water plants, and the still deeps beneath the shade of overhanging trees, are favourite spots with most of the soft-mouthed fish, such as carp, and many others of similar habits and tastes. ”

“ The millions of fish that are caught, and form the food throughout the year of almost every living creature in the country, are, however, as nothing compared with the countless myriads that perish naturally. ”

“ As there are no plants down there, these strange fish must live mostly on one another! And here is a puzzle, for some of them have great big bodies, but small heads and tiny mouths; others have bodies like ribbons, but large heads and huge mouths, and some are such gluttons that they swallow fish twice their own size! ”

“ They live almost entirely upon fish, which they obtain either by springing upon them as they lie in the water, or picking them up dead along the shore. In winter, they are fed upon dried fish, which are cured in large open sheds erected for that purpose on the shore, and which, it would appear, they prefer to any other food. ”

“ The sea is very well stocked with fish of divers sorts, namely mullet, bass, bream, snook, mackerel, parracoots, garfish, ten-pounders, scuttle-fish, stingrays, whiprays, rasperages, cockle-merchants, or oyster-crackers, cavallies, conger-eels, rock-fish, dog-fish, etc. ”