170 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



time ; and of worms, the dunghill-worm, called a brandling, I 

 take to be best, being well scoured in moss or fennel ; or he will 

 bite at a worm that lies under cow-dung, with a bluish head. 

 And if you rove for a pearch with a minnow, then it is best to 

 be alive, you sticking your hook through his back-fm ; or a 



may soon lift him into the boat. Towards the first of August he prefers 

 the rocky shores, and then should be trolled for with the shiner and the 

 fly, a stiff twelve-feet rod and balanced reel, the line being let off to at 

 least fifty feet, and the boat rowed easily along. A skilful troller may, 

 taking his seat with his face to the stern, manage two rods, properly sup- 

 ported by stays on the side of the boat ; but then, when a fish is struck, 

 the boat must be stopped, and the boatman made to reel in the other line, 

 lest it get fast to the bottom. The bass takes the fly freely; a favorite fly 

 being made on a stout hook (the fish's mouth is large), with wings of scar- 

 let cloth and a body of white feather. Other colors have been tried, 

 though not to much advantage. But the best fly is made of scarlet feather 

 or cloth (which is better), with a piece of pickerel's tongue cut in a fork, 

 so as to hang from the bend of the hook. This the bass (particularly 

 the Oswego) take very eagerly, especially where the water flows in a more 

 rapid current, as among the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. The 

 late Dr. Dewees, who was a most skilful angler, used to troll for them 

 with a large sized kill-devil, and most successfully. Bass of six, seven, 

 and even eight pounds, will sometimes reward the fly-troller's pains ; but 

 the usual size is not more than half so much. 



Had we room here, it would be pleasant to dilate on the noble sport of 

 fishing for the striped or streaked bass or rock fish {Labrax lineahis of 

 Cuvier), a sea-fish which runs up our rivers to spawn, and for size and the 

 skill required to take him corresponds well to the salmon. The utmost 

 nicety and judgment in the tackle is required ; a rod of twelve or thirteen 

 feet, moderately stiff, the butt well in hand, a clear running reel, holding 

 a hundred yards of stout silk line, a leader of three strand gut, and the 

 snood single (though of the strongest kind). He is fished for near the 

 bottom, with a lead sufficient to keep the line well down; and the baits 

 vary with tlie season; shad-roe, where that fish spawns (spring and fall), 

 shrimp, soft crabs (in August), clams (in the fall, when the killy-fish is 

 also used), young eels (a favorite bait at the Schuylkill Fairmount dam), 

 &c. When the fish is hooked, he is not yet caught, nor will be, if the 

 rod is not managed by a cool, skilful hand. They are thus taken of from 

 ten to twenty pounds weight; and with the hand-line even of twice that 

 size or more. It is said, that a gentleman not far from New York, whose 

 body, like that of TuUy's son-in-law, is not as large as his spirit, captured 

 one very nearly as long as himself. An American need not be told, that the 

 flavor of this fish is very highly prized, or that it has attained to 

 ninety pounds weight. Excellent directions for taking the striped bas^^^ 

 may bo found in the .American Anirlpv^a Guide, — Mm. Kd. 



