MODES OF FISHING. 3(53 



appear, to return in September and October in immense 

 numbers, gladdening with their advent the heart of 

 every sportsman. 



Their size is so varied that they may be taken from 

 the weight of a few ounces up to sixty and even more 

 pounds, the heavier fish generally being captured late 

 in the season ; and woe betide the angler if unprepared 

 he should strike his hook into one of the leviathans, 

 for all his fishing paraphernalia will certainly receive 

 so severe a shock as to render it for after-use completely 

 worthless that is, the portion that is left with him. 

 After spawning, this fish does not lose its condition like 

 the salmon, therefore his capture immediately subse- 

 quent is not nearly so reprehensible, the propagation 

 of his species not injuring him to a noticeable extent ; 

 therefore if he be fished for in the rivers after that 

 duty is performed, nothing is so attractive for his cap- 

 ture as a gaudy sea-trout fly ; but the striped bass is 

 not dainty, and many persons of experience persistently 

 use with the greatest success a piece of white or scarlet 

 rag tied over their hook instead of the more complicated 

 and expensive imitation. Fishing in the sea, however, 

 the shrimp is the most popular and gentlemanly bait, 

 trolled along the surface after the manner of the fly, at 

 which the fish break, similar to trout or salmon; still 

 there are days when you cannot thus allure them ; and 

 soft shell crab, spearing (a small transparent fish about 

 the size of a minnow), or squid, have to be resorted 

 to ; even the spoon bait has been known to be success- 

 ful when all other attractions have failed. 



Although this fish annually chooses a change from 

 salt to fresh water, still it is not necessary for his 

 existence, numbers having been experimented on by 



