THE 



BOY'S OWN GUI-DE TO FISHING 



CHAPTER I 



SUCKER FISHING 



THE earliest fish in the spring of the year to 

 take the bait of the angler, are the trout and the 

 common brook sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and 

 the whole family, indeed, of this latter fish ; for 

 there are a dozen or more different kinds of suck- 

 ers. If I were writing for the advanced fisherman, 

 I should begin with the trout ; for, with the excep- 

 tion of the head of the family of fishes to which 

 the trout belongs, namely, the salmon, there is no 

 fish pursued by the angler requiring so much care 

 and prudent method for catching. As, however, 

 this is a book for boys, and as the sticker is, above 

 all, a boy's fish, and does not require great refine- 

 ment in tackle to catch, I shall speak at length on 

 it, with the intent that what I shall say will be use- 

 ful also in the capture of other more difficult fish. 



ii 



