TIT 



CHAPTER VIII 

 THE CASTER'S QUARRY 



THE BLACK BASS 



f | ^HE black bass is eminently an American lish; 

 he has the faculty of asserting himself and 

 making himself completely at home wherever 

 placed. He is plucky, game, brave, and unyielding 

 to the last when hooked. He has the arrowy rush 

 of the trout, the untiring strength and bold leap of 

 the salmon, while he has a system of fighting tactics 

 peculiarly his own. He will rise to the artificial fly 

 as readily as the salmon or the brook trout under the 

 same conditions; and will take the live minnow or 

 other live bait under any and all circumstances favor- 

 able to the taking of any other fish. I consider him 

 inch for inch and pound for pound the gamest fish 

 that swims." 



When Dr. Henshall, back in the seventies, made the 

 above statement concerning the black bass he created 

 quite a stir among the anglers of the day. Then the 

 bass was little known as a game fish and there was no 

 tackle to speak of suitable for bass fishing. Now, 

 two-thirds of all fishermen are bass fishermen and 



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