The Sunfish Family 13 



bass bait-fishing, as an art, originated in Ken- 

 tucky a century ago. George Snyder, of Paris, 

 Kentucky, when president of the Bourbon 

 County AngHng Club, made the first multiplying 

 reel for casting the minnow, in 18 10, and as early 

 as 1830 many such reels were used in that state. 

 The rods employed by those pioneers of black- 

 bass fishing were about ten feet long, weighing 

 but several ounces, cut from the small end of a 

 Mississippi cane, with the reel lashed to the butt. 

 They used the smallest Chinese " sea-grass " lines, 

 or home-made lines of three strands of black sew- 

 ing-silk twisted together. Those old disciples of 

 Walton would have been shocked, could they 

 have seen the heavy rods and coarse lines that 

 are still used in some sections, for their own 

 tackle was as light, if not so elegant, as any made 

 at the present day. 



Another quality in a game-fish is measured by 

 his resistance when hooked and by his efforts to 

 escape. I think no fish of equal weight exhibits 

 so much finesse and stubborn resistance, under 

 such conditions, as the black-bass. Most fishes 

 when hooked attempt to escape by tugging and 

 pulling in one direction, or by boring toward the 

 bottom, and if not successful in breaking away 



