io8 Sporting Sketches 



Then the bass were on the feed, and the sport they 

 afforded unrivalled. There were plenty of bass 

 large and small mouth, black fighters, weighing 

 from one to six pounds; square-built rock-bass, 

 sometimes over a pound in weight; shapely white 

 bass, not much as fighters, even when a foot long, 

 yet dainty for the pan; and, lastly, the calico or 

 grass bass, a showy, small fellow, and a quick, jerky 

 fighter, and his distant relative, the small boy's 

 pride, the beautiful little sunfish, or " punkin-seed." 



Upon many days a catch would include all of 

 these and other fish, such as catfish, bullheads, etc., 

 which invade the chosen haunts of the bass. The 

 best places were about old piling, submerged trees, 

 where trees hung over deep water, and near lily- 

 pads and mats of grass. Among the baits were 

 crayfish, minnows, white grubs, frogs, grasshoppers, 

 larvae of bees and wasps, very young catfish, and 

 worms. They were esteemed about in the order 

 set down, and if any one of them did not promptly 

 tempt a fish, some other was substituted. The boys 

 knew where to obtain all in their season. The fish- 

 ing never was confined to one spot, nor did the 

 boys believe that silence was either golden or neces- 

 sary; in fact, they noisily chaffed each other and 

 chattered at will. Their rule was that one place 

 was good only so long as bites were not too far 

 apart, and when water within reach had been thor- 

 oughly tested, a move was in order. 



A small-mouth black bass was the prize first tried 

 for, say about a submerged tree. For him, minnow, 

 crayfish, frog, or grub was deftly cast a few yards 

 from and all about the supposed stronghold. If two 



