BLACK BASS 



color, or the magic touches of vivid hues that 

 enrich natural objects, nor can the power of brain 

 convey, in words potent enough, the picture of 

 such a scene to another. 



The leap of the bass is distinctly characteristic. 

 He sharply lifts his body clear from the water, 

 then shakes himself, always throwing a shower of 

 spray about him, and instead of plunging forward, 

 falls downwards and backwards, as if he thought 

 by this manoeuvre he would be able to snap the 

 line that holds him. By this peculiar action, he 

 becomes the unconscious creator of the beautiful 

 rainbow-effect under the conditions I have de- 

 scribed. Perhaps, with the kiss of dawn, an 

 effect similar might be obtainable ; but, personally, 

 I have never tried this early hour for bass fishing. 

 It was my good fortune at one time to see a 

 very large number of tarpon, leaping and hurling 

 themselves into mid-air, the strong sunlight causing 

 the silver flashings to appear strikingly beauti- 

 ful and dazzling ; but the peculiar blending of pri- 

 mary colors was absent. With no other species of 

 fish, save the bass, have I ever observed it. Two fish- 

 ermen of varied and wide experience, with whom 

 I discussed this subject, were most enthusiastic 

 concerning its transient but exquisite and won- 

 drous beauty. 



123 



