214 



CLUPEIDiE. 



THE SHAD. 



A losa PnestahUh — Dekay. 



This delicious and well-known fish, which is by many per- 

 sons esteemed the queen of all fishes on the table, has been, 

 until very recently, regarded as one that could be taken only 

 with the net, and therefore of no avail to the angler. It is, how- 

 ever, now clearly proved that, like the Herring, the American 

 Shad will take a large gaudy fly freely, and being a strong, 

 powerful, and active fish, aff'ords great play to the sportsman. 



It is undoubtedly the fact that, until within the few last 

 years, fishing in the United States, except of Trout, having 

 been practised rather as a means of providing the table, than as 

 a matter of sport, it has been taken for granted that many 

 species of fish, which are easily captured by the scan, will not 

 take the bait or the fly ; and few species have been pursued as 

 game except those which are not easily caught otherwise than 

 with the hook. Fly-fishing, moreover, having been a few years 

 ago confined to a very few individuals, and even now being 

 comparatively limited, it was attempted only with those families 



