174 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



angling, some ten or twelve years ago went to Fairmount, 

 and in the course of a morning's fishing caught three with 

 this bait. He has never been fishing since to mj knowledge, 

 and I have no doubt, he is thoroughly convinced that they 

 can be taken in the same way at any time, and perhaps even 

 in the water above the dam. 



I have had young Shad to leap into my boat in the twi- 

 light, pursued, likely, by Rockfish ; they were not as long 

 as the blade of a breakfast-knife and not much thicker. One 

 of these I examined carefully ; but a slight handling of the 

 silvery delicate thing destroyed the young life, which next 

 season after its return from sea would have made a meal for 

 two or three hungry men. 



After spawning, the Shad, in Salmon-fisher's parlance, is a 

 kipper, and has lost nearly half its weight ; it then finds its 

 way to the sea, and next season returns with its accustomed 

 size and fatness. 



The roe of the Shad is a tempting bait to all fish, and is 

 much used by Philadelphia fishermen ; great care is required 

 in attaching it to the hook by means of the slight membrane 

 that envelops it. Each ova as it is washed from the baited 

 hook and floats off down the tide, is greedily swallowed by 

 any fish, small or large, and he is toled along until he finds 

 the " placer," when the " nugget" is swallowed at a gulph, if 

 his mouth is large enough. Then if the fisher strikes at the 

 particular time he hooks his prize ; but an inexpert person 

 will lose a hall dozen baits for every fish he catches, and will 

 bedaub the but of his rod, hands, and coat sleeves, until he 

 presents anything but the appearance of a well-dressed 

 angler. 



