CHAPTER XIX. 



CONDITIONS WHICH GOVERN THE BITING 

 OF FISH. 



AFTER a careful reading of this chapter it would seem 

 that there was nothing to add to this very uncertain sub- 

 ject; for we really know very little about it. We only 

 know that when fishing a favorable locality where there are 

 "thousands" of Black Bass, or even in small, circumscribed 

 waters where there are certainly "hundreds," we do well, 

 by the most careful fishing, to secure a half-dozen or a score 

 of fish, as the case may be, on the most propitious occa- 

 sions. 



Why is it then that so few, out of so many, respond to 

 the angler's fly or bait? It is best that it is so; but why 

 is it so ? This is the query that naturally rises to the ang- 

 ler's mind, especially after an unsuccessful day. 



I might answer this question by asking another : Why is 

 it that the sportsman in a day's outing, with the best dogs, 

 finds so few grouse or quail in comparison to the great 

 numbers known to " use " in certain localities ? 



The inference is plain in either case, for self preservation 

 is the first law of nature ; but while the sportsman is fully 

 conscious of this, the angler is usually not so logical, be- 

 cause he does not reflect upon the fact that the fish is as 

 fully aware of his presence as the grouse or quail is of that 

 of the sportsman and his dogs. 



Then again we should not expect to find all the fish on 

 (162) 



