Preface vii 



question of tackle and methods is of paramount 

 importance to anglers, and as my own interest 

 has been along the line of experiments with the 

 lightest tackle, lines, and rods for the largest 

 fishes, in the interests of fair play for the splen- 

 did game, I have included the reference to this 

 feature in each chapter where the description 

 of the capture of each fish and its peculiarities 

 occurs. 



The fishes represent an important and interest- 

 ing branch of the animal kingdom. They are di- 

 vided into about two hundred families and twelve 

 thousand species, America alone claiming thirty- 

 three hundred, which have been made the subject 

 of untiring investigation, especially during recent 

 years, by many distinguished specialists, among 

 whom in this country have been Louis Agassiz, 

 Charles L. McKay, Spencer F. Baird, James Car- 

 son Brevoort, William O. Ayres, David H. Storer, 

 David Starr Jordan, Theodore Gill, George Brown 

 Goode, Tarleton H. Bean, Samuel Garman, Bar- 

 ton W. Evermann, and many more whose works 

 are found in the United States Government Re- 

 ports and those of the various institutions of sci- 

 ence in this and other countries. Among these 

 may be mentioned the works of Louis and Alex- 



