A mencan Game-Fishes 



sources of our anglers that so many kinds, 

 the taking of which would in England 

 (the country par excellence of angling liter- 

 ature) be considered well worth describ- 

 ing, are here airily waved aside as " boys' 

 fish." If such they be, there is a good 

 deal of boy left in some veteran anglers. 

 The chubs and their kindred, the race of 

 sunfishes and all the lesser basses, and 

 even the yellow perch (good risers at the 

 fly all, in their season), have been thus 

 slightingly characterized. 



Now, take this perch, for instance. He 

 is dear to the boy's heart because of his 

 gregariousness and his courage. If he be 

 found at all, he is usually found abun- 

 dantly; and, unless age or hard experience 

 have cooled his ardor, he is not alarmed 

 at the disappearance of his comrades, but 

 follows the caught one to the last, and is 

 ready to try his luck on the next bait. 

 But large perch are not so easily taken. 

 It requires fine tackle to deceive them and 

 sound tackle to hold them ; and fish of 

 three-quarters of a pound or more, or even 

 of half a pound, give excellent sport, and 

 there are few better table-fish taken from 

 fresh water. Not the least of its excel- 

 lences, to the angler's mind, is the fact 

 that it can be caught late in the season, 



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