CONDITIONS WHICH GOVERN THE BITING OF FISH. 363 



expert anglers to Upper Nemahbin Lake, near Delaficld, 

 Wisconsin. My companion was Captain B., Chief of Po- 

 lice of Milwaukee City; and he exhibited considerable 

 impatience and concern because of the other boats start- 

 ing ahead of us over the favorite fishing-ground ; but I 

 saw that the three other boats were proceeding over this 

 ground — where, on the preceding day, I had taken a fine 

 lot of Bass — without getting so much as "a bite." 



We followed in their wake, casting right and left along 

 the edge of the bulrushes, but in vain ; until, finally, 

 we reached the end of the line of rushes, at the inlet of 

 the lake. Mr. B was discouraged, but I, on the contrary, 

 was elated — for I had observed the dorsal fins of numer- 

 ous Bass in the shallow water between the rushes and the 

 shore ; and I had observed, further, that the Bass were 

 feeding on insects and flies which were being blown into 

 the water by a brisk wind. 



I proposed fishing back over the same ground to the 

 evident disgust of the Captain. But I began casting be- 

 tween the bulrushes and the shore, in the shallow water 

 under the lee of the bank, and fastened to a large Bass at 

 almost the first cast. The Captain followed my lead ; and, 

 on arriving at our original starting-point, a few hundred 

 yards distant, we had taken fifteen fine Bass. The three 

 boats had made the entire circuit of the lake, and the six 

 anglers in them, fishing on the usual grounds, had not, 

 altogether, taken half as many fish, when they joined us 

 for luncheon. 



In lacustrine waters, Black Bass first appear in the 

 shallowest portions, where the water is warm, and feed 

 upon Crustacea, mollusks, etc., retiring to deeper water as 

 the season advances. When the patches of rushes and 



