62 AMERICAN FISHES. 



I shall not attempt to discuss the merits of various kinds of tackle. The 

 dealers in angling apparatus can usually give advice both timely and 

 suitable to the locality. Those who wish to enter into the extreme refine- 

 ments of the art of Bass fishing must read the writings of Dr. Henshall, 

 and then learn for themselves by long years of observation and experi- 

 ment, for to no one is book-knowledge less valuable than to him whose 

 desire it is to catch a fish. 



Bass may be caught by the use of artificial flies or artificial minnows, 

 with live bait, consisting of minnows, chubs, young perch and many other 

 small fishes, frogs, helgramites, crawfish, shrimps, grasshoppers, crickets or 

 worms, or by the use of spoon-bait or trolling spoon. 



In bait fishing a light rod, about eight-and-one-half feet long is used 

 with a multiplying reel to insure the delivery of the bait at long distances. 

 In fly-fishing a more flexible rod, eleven feet long, with a click-reel, is 

 preferred. Strong lines, preferably of braided raw silk, are used, and 

 too much care cannot be given to the strength of leaders and snells, and 

 to the perfection of the hooks. Of the various forms of the latter, Hen- 

 shall puts the "Sproatbend" first and the "O'Shaughnessy " second, 

 using Nos. 4, 5 and 6 for bait fishing and Nos. 2 and 3 for fly-fishing. 



In trolling from a boat at least 300 feet of line should be used. Troll- 

 ing with the rod " skittering " and " bobbing " are other modes of local 

 popularity. 



The Small-mouth is the angler's favorite in the North, being the more 

 agile and pugnacious ; but in Florida, the paradise of the Big-mouths, 

 few complaints are heard as to the character of the sport which they 

 afford. "J. W.," writing to the American Angler, June 3T, 1862, re- 

 ported as follows the weights of sixteen taken in the Homosassa River, 

 Hemard Co., Fla., in one-and-a-half hour's fishing: 7^, 6]4, $}4, 5%, 

 5, 4>4, 4, 4^, 4}4, 4, 3, 2%, 2, 1 ]/ x ; total, 68 pounds. 



The introduction of the Black Bass into England by the . Marquis of 

 Exeter has caused great consternation among British anglers, who fear 

 that its rapacity may lead to the destruction of trout and salmon. It 

 has many friends and advocates, however, not the least powerful of whom 

 is Mr. R. B. Marston, editor of the Fishing Gazette. It is, I believe, 

 intended only to place it in streams inhabited by " coarse fish," and the 

 waters of England would surely be the better for the destruction of a 

 goodly percentage of their breams, roaches and barbels. 



