THE 



GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



By Game Fish^ we understand all those which will take the 

 natural or artificial bait with sufficient boldness and avidity, 

 and which, when hooked, are endowed with sufficient vigour, 

 courage, and rapidity of motion, to offer so much resistance, and 

 give so much difficulty to the captor, as to render the pursuit 

 exciting and agreeable, apart from any consideration of the 

 intrinsic value of the fish. 



By these quahties of the hooked fish, corresponding quahties 

 of the fisherman are called forth ; and the greater the wariness 

 and cunning of the fish before he takes the bait, compelling the 

 use of the finest and most delicate tackle, the greater his fury, 

 vehemence, and velocity after being struck, requiring the utmost 

 nicety of manipulation, coolness of temper, and promptitude of 

 judgment, the higher does he stand in the list of game, and the 

 more animating is his pursuit and capture. 



The truth is, that in all field sports, the pleasure to be derived 

 from them, and the rank in which they stand one to the other, 

 are all in exact proportion, not with the value or the numbers of 



