TACKLE. 395 



the Striped Bass rather than any other bait. A sUding sinker 

 should be used in this instance, which rests on the ground, and 

 allows the crab to move on the bottom. No float is required 

 for this method. 



So soon as the season is so far advanced that the shedder has 

 recovered his scaly panoply, which sets his enemies* assaults at 

 defiance, the shrimp again comes into play, and, with the various 

 kinds of small salt-water fishes, constitutes the best river baits. 



For boat fishing in the bay, with sinkers — as for the Weak 

 Fish, King Fish, and others, among which the Striped Bass is 

 taken, the soft clam is the favourite appliance ; and for this kind 

 of sport, full and neap tides, and a wind ofi" shore, are the best 

 periods. 



In killing the Bass, after he is hooked, great skill, great per- 

 severance, and incessant vigilance are necessary. It is a sine 

 qua non to keep him up, frustrating his efforts to rush to the 

 bottom, and to hold him ever in hand, with a taut line, ceding 

 nothing to his wildest efi^orts, except on absolute compulsion. 



Excellent tackle is requisite, and to preserve it excellent, 

 constant attention to it must be had, or all will be in vain. 

 Nothing is more provoking than to lose a fine fish, well played, 

 and perhaps all but killed, owing to some slight imperfection in 

 the gut bottom or the arming of the hooks, which care, before 

 coming to the water's edge, would have easily and surely 

 prevented. 



Whether the Striped Bass has ever been killed by the fatal 

 spoon, I know not ; but I cannot doubt that it would be found 

 nearly as effective as with its congener, the splendid Black Bass 

 of the St. Lawrence, to which I shall now proceed. 



