ANGLING FOR BLACK BASS. 65 



you have at last landed him, you feel that you have 

 conquered a foeman worthy of your steel. 



There are two kinds of fish known as the 

 Black Bass, but they are quite different in their 

 nature and habits. They are known as the Small- 

 Mouthed Black Bass, and the Large-Mouthed or 

 Oswego Bass. The latter, as the name implies, has 

 the largest mouth, and lives in still water where 

 weeds, flags and pond-lilies are plentiful. He is 

 caught quite readily at still fishing, using minnows 

 for bait, and is also captured by trolling along the 

 edge of the weeds with the spoon and minnow, at- 

 tached to a gang of hooks. The latter is my favor- 

 ite way of fishing for them. The big-mouthed black 

 bass is the poorer table-fish of the two kinds, and 

 does not possess the game qualities of the small- 

 mouthed variety, which lives only in pure lake or 

 river water with rocky bottom. They are taken 

 still-fishing with the dobson, also known as the hell- 

 gramite, the craw-fish, or fresh-water crab, and the 

 minnow. These three are undoubtedly the best baits 

 for fishing from an anchored boat. 



In my opinion, the finest way to take them, and 

 that which gives the most sport, is by trolling with 

 the following described rig: I use a nine-foot single 

 gut leader, and attached thereto are 'two flies, tied 

 on a good-sized hook, not smaller than a. No. I or 

 larger than a i-o, and a gang of hooks on the end. 

 The leader is made in two parts; the part to which 

 the line is attached is six feet long; then a small 

 swivel number 8 or 9 is placed between, and then 

 the remainder of the leader. 



I have used hundreds of different kinds of flies, and 



