58 Fishcraft 



mouth species are clearly set forth in 

 the foregoing clever rhyme of Fred 

 Mather a fish culturist, expert 

 angler, and angling author. 



Fifty years ago the black bass was 

 held in slight esteem by most anglers, 

 in fact, generally considered one of 

 the coarse species, grudgihgly admit- 

 ted to be fit for food, but hardly 

 measuring up to the standard of a 

 true game fish. The fault, evidently, 

 lay with the fishers instead of the fish, 

 as the method of taking then in vogue 

 was usually of the coarse, if not 

 clumsy kind, and skillful, scientific 

 black bass fishing an unknown branch 

 of the art to the multitude. A few 

 ardent anglers of advanced ideas, it is 

 true, studied the habits and charac- 

 teristics, thus discovering the fact that 

 the sport was remarkably attractive 

 when properly pursued, but it re- 

 mained for Dr. James A. Henshall, 

 the recognized "Apostle of the Black 

 Bass," to enlighten the fraternity con- 

 cerning the really high rank to be ac- 

 corded the closely allied species of 

 bass, and bass fishing. Earlier 



