Favorite Fish and Fishing 



not be the case were the leaps three or four 

 feet high. 



Why does a hooked bass leap from the 

 water? This question is sometimes raised, 

 though the answer is plain. He leaps into 

 the air to endeavor to dislodge the hook; 

 this he tries to do by violently shaking his 

 body, with widely extended jaws. He does 

 not " shake his head," as is often said, for 

 having no flexible neck, his head can only 

 be thrown from side to side by the violent 

 contortions of his body, often using the 

 water as a fulcrum, when he appears to be 

 standing on his tail. A dog or a cat will 

 shake its head vigorously to eject some 

 offending substance from the mouth, and a 

 bass does the same thing; but as he cannot 

 shake his body to the extent required be- 

 neath the surface, owing to the resistance 

 of the water, he leaps above it. And if he 

 succeeds in throwing out the hook he disap- 

 pears beneath the surface and is seen no 

 more; his object in leaping has been 

 accomplished. 



Usually, it is only surface-feeding fishes 

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