234 The American Angler 
sky, but these occasions are very widely 
apart. We never fish for them in streams un- 
til dusk, or when the day is very dark, and 
then we use a medium size of fly, what is 
known usually as a large trout fly, say, tied 
on a No. 6 Sproat. With two of these flies 
dressed in subdued colors, we whip the head, 
middle and tail end of the pools, never the 
rapids, although we have caught many fish in 
the eddies on the sides of the very swift water 
and in one instance had a bass jump four 
feet across a little rapid at our flies trail- 
ing on the opposite side from where he was 
lying, perdu. 
Now as to lakes. It is waste of time, we 
think, to fish broad waters for black bass with 
a fly, unless you find shallow ledges of rocks, 
where the water is not over five or six feet 
deep, and if less the better for your outlook. 
True, the bass, lacking a food supply in such 
places, will forage near the shore, particularly 
around the water vegetation in the little bays, 
and, more likely, even than there, at the 
mouths of the small brooks that flow into the 
lake. Under such conditions, get out of your 
boat, put on your wading trousers and ap- 
proach the spot within fifty to sixty feet— 
black bass fly fishing requires long casting— 
and let your fly sink an inch or two, then draw 
your cast slowly in with the dropper just 
touching the surface of the water. Should 
you see the swirl of a rise, cast instantly into 
it and let your flies sink at once. On one oc- 
casion, in a deep pool on the Schuylkill, we 
caught twenty-eight bass in the morning of a 
misty, hazy day by using this method, and if 
our memory does not play traitor, we saw in 
the flesh but two or three of these fish as 
they rose, for they were lazy in feeding, 
scarcely reaching the surface, as if the at- 
mospheric conditions had affected their usually 
vigorous condition or temperament. Again, if 
black bass are caught on lakes with the arti- 
ficial fly, on a bright day, the occasions are ex- 
ceptional, and the fish are taken only when cloud 
shadows are passing now and then, but when 
the gloom of the fading day spreads over the 
water, or before sunrise, the bass feed, and at 
such times they, like all other fish that come 
to the surface, will take a trailing lure, be it 
of feathers, metal or of nature’s build. We 
have caught at least twenty-five species, in- 
cluding thirteen varieties of Southern salt- 
water fish, with the artificial fy, and never 
failed to lure any fish to the moving feathers, 
provided the water was clear enough for the 
fish to see them. Even catfish and suckers 
have fallen a prey to them. 
We hope ‘‘L. H. D.” will not misunder- 
stand these imperfect notes. We do not claim 
that black bass will take the artificial fly in 
preference to the spinner or natural baits, 
although we have known instances where they 
did so. Wesimply say to him and to other 
doubters that, if this fish is fished for under 
the proper conditions, he can be taken with the 
feathers with more or less success in all -his 
native waters. Difference in habitat will 
affect measureably, and in limited instances, 
the habits of fish, their hours of feeding, ac- 
tion when hooked, coloration and, even to a 
slight degree, their physical structure, but a 
hungry bass in any water will seize a moving 
lure, if it approaches in its action to that of a 
living creature.—ED. | 
On a New Brunswick Stream. 
A gray cloudy moon found me early at work 
tempting the salmon trout to try the worm. 
This was my first attempt at trout fishing in 
this province of the good Queen Victoria, and 
not far from the head of the Bay of Funday. 
The scene of my first cast was the site of a 
ruined mill, where the dam had washed away, 
and near the mouth of a small stream. The 
bait had hardly touched the water, when a 
splash was heard, and away went the line, 
and quick on the bank lay a half pounder. 
Soon the big ones were noticed splashing in 
the stream, above and below me, and the next 
throw resulted in bagging another weighing 
overapound. At this spot several were caught 
of various sizes, but all things of beauty. 
Moving up stream to where a tree had fall- 
en across the stream, on either side of which 
was a deep hole, and where my imagination 
pictured the penciled beauties of great size, 
a cast was made and soon on the grassy bank 
was one whose weight was reckoned by pounds 
instead of ounces. Again the line was in the 
water, a jerk and just in sight came a three 
pounder, judging from the drag. But, alas! I 
just beheld the prize, when off he slipped and 
was gone; shall we say forever? I hope not. 
Next, one seized the bait who meant business 
from the start, but soon up the high bank he 
landed, clear and free from the hook. Now 
began a battle for freedom on one side and 
possession on the other. Down the slippery 
