Backcountry Notes

The most prominent fishes of the Backcountry were, and still are, bass, bream, and brook trout.  Now, what do the names of these fish have in common?

Give up?  All three are misnomers - - bass aren't really bass, bream aren't really bream, and brook trout aren't actually trout.  The names were carry-overs from European fish names.  The early settlers didn't know, for example, that taxonomists would place their "bass" in the sunfish family; the specimens they saw kind of looked like bass, so that's what they named them.

Bass, Largemouth and Smallmouth

The name "bass" derives from the Middle English bars, meaning "perch," from Old English bærs.  Both bass and perch have spiny fins along their backs.  The name "bass" came to be used for salt-water fish, falling out of favor as applied to fresh-water perch.  There are two primary species of American freshwater "black bass," the smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu to ichthyologists, and largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides. In colonial and early American times, smallmouth bass were not found in Eastern waters, that is, those flowing into the Atlantic either directly or through the Chesapeake.

Largemouth bass were more widely distributed, being native to many suitable, warm waters in the eastern United States.  Largemouths are an adaptable species, living in rivers, streams, lakes, bayous, farm ponds - - even in brackish estuaries along the coast.  They are among the least picky of fish concerning their diet, and have been known to eat bugs, acquatic nymphs, minnows, baitfish, sunfish, worms, leeches, frogs, ducklings, and more.

Bream

The European bream is a large freshwater fish (up to about 12 pounds), flattened in cross-section, but otherwise rather carp-like.  The name "bream" is from the Middle English breme, a word of uncertain European BreamGermanic origin.  When the early settlers found smaller sunfish, such as bluegills and shellcrackers, they called them "bream" because of the similar, flattened shape.  Like the basses, all of the sunfish known as "bream" are of the family Centrarchidae (Sunfishes) and the order Perciformes (Perch-like).  Specific species of bream include the widely-distributed bluegill, a favorite farm-pond fish, along with redear (called "shellcrackers" in much of the Backcountry), longear, and green sunfish.  A very large specimen of any of these would be three to four pounds.

The name "bream" seems to be falling out of favor, and bream are now lumped with other types, such as crappies, and all are called "panfish."  Big whup.  I much prefer "bream," which has a history and which was the name commonly used in central North Carolina when my siblings and I spent summers on our grandparents' farm in Whynot.  Bass and bream were the sportfish and food-fish of choice in that place and time.  The Whynot farm pond had been stocked with largemouth bass and bluegills; nature supplied shellcrackers and longears; we supplied cane poles, worms, and enthusiasm.  

Brook Trout

The brook trout is native to the mountain streams of the Appalachians and was found also in a few cold, spring-fed valley streams.  The "brookie" is not a true trout, but is a "char," a related salmonid.  The word "trout" comes from the Middle English troute, from Old English trht, from Late Latin trcta, and perhaps from Greek trkts, indicating a kind of sea fish with sharp teeth; trout have lots of little, sharp teeth. The name "char" is sometimes given as "charr;" its origin is unknown. The char have fewer teeth than the trout, and in addition along their sides the char have light spots on a dark background, whereas trout have dark spots in a light background.   The two types are closely related, of course, trout being of the genus Salmo and the char of the genus Salvelinus, both in the family Salmonidae.  The scientific name of the brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, means "little salmon of the springs."

The early setllers were familiar with European brown trout, and the general physical similarities, along with the cold-water habitat, led the settlers to call the American fish "brook trout."  Brook trout were given a number of local names, including "brookies," "natives," "specks," and "snakes."  I was puzzled by the name "snakes" until I saw a brook trout wiggle its way, very snake-like, across a riffle with no more than an inch of water, not even enough to cover half of the fish.