STRIPED BASS. 207 
man would be aware of bis proceedings. A man, by 
iisbing on tbe bottom, altbongh justified by a philosophy 
which establishes the fact that bass onght to look for 
crabs there, and not dangling about in mid-water, will 
surely catch three eels to one bass. The truth is, crabs 
are not found on the bottom in such places, generally 
strong foaming currents, which they never frequent un- 
less carried away by the force of the water, and soft 
crabs are by their natural enemies, and many other 
causes, often torn into pieces and borne about by the 
tide. 
The bait should be kept in continual motion : this is 
the first law of all bait fishing. It is done by twitching 
the rod, and induces the fish to seize the prey, which they 
imagine is about to escape. I have seen them time and 
again dart at a bait when in motion, that they had 
smelt round contemptuously when still. Crab is uni- 
versally regarded as the preeminent bass bait in Summer, 
although its reputation is disputed by that wonderful 
production of the sea, the squid. This horrible monster, of 
which sailors tell such astounding stories, has illuminated 
the tales of olden time, and been a pet forecastle yarn 
with ancient and modern mariners. There are accounts 
of ships seized by its arms, that reached to the mast- 
heads, and sunk or only saved by prayers to the Yirgin 
Mary and the vigorous use of axes on its many muscular 
and boneless limbs ; of grateful mariners presenting pic- 
tures of the dreadful encounter to the shrine of Our 
Lady ; of huge pieces of the arms of this fish, indicating 
that they must have been sixty or more feet long, found 
in the maw of the whale, whose food they are ; and hor- 
