PREFACE 



THE purpose of this volume is to be 

 a handy guide of practical informa- 

 tion on how to angle for common 

 and familiar bottom fishes, and descriptions 

 of their habits for amateurs and young peo- 

 ple who have not the opportunity or the 

 means to wander afar in search of game 

 fish, which some consider more worthy. 

 Certainly our common fishes are more 

 accessible, as well as more plentiful, and are 

 in most cases bottom feeders. Many men, 

 especially with a family, prefer to spend 

 their holidays and vacations in the moun- 

 tains or on the seashore, and, though not 

 anglers, often share in the innocent primi- 

 tive methods of pole, string and pin-hook. 

 The writer does not here claim the eel to 

 be more gamey than the bass, but he shows 

 a proper method whereby more real enjoy- 

 ment is to be had in bottom fishing than 

 that now commonly practiced. In England 

 bottom or "coarse fishing" (as they term it) 



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