18 



THE SMALL-MOUTHED BASS 



nitely that I have never found frogs therein, except in 

 one or two cases where they had been stripped from my 

 own hook by bass which I afterwards succeeded in cap- 

 turing. 



Whether or not this has been the experience of other 

 anglers and fishermen, I am unable to say. 



That bass will take a live frog as bait does not prove 

 that it is accustomed to it as an article of diet; the reverse 

 is indeed true, as is the case with animals. 



On the other hand, crayfish, which enter largely into 

 the regular diet of this fish, are not usually very effective 

 as bait ; in Lake Ontario, Erie, and Georgian Bay, where 

 this is true perhaps to a greater extent than in any other 

 locality, it is almost impossible to catch bass with the or- 

 dinary crayfish, however carefully one may arrange the 

 bait; and yet, nine times out of ten, on examining the stom- 

 ach of a bass, after capture, it will be found filled with these 

 amphibious creatures in all stages of development. 



Frog Pond 



