HISTORICAL 19 



not to much advantage. But the best fly is made of 

 scarlet feather or cloth (which is better) with a piece 

 of pickerel's tongue, cut in a fork so as to hang from 

 the bend of the hook." The latter to this day is a 

 favorite lure of the bait caster, but, almost needless to 

 say, not of the fly fisherman! 



The only mention of the bass by Thad. Norris in 

 his "American Anglers Book" (1864) states that he 

 caught them skittering a spoon. Genio Scott in his 

 "Fishing in American Waters" (1869) says nothing 

 more of the bass than: " This fish is taken by casting 

 an artificial fly or by trolling with a feathered spoon, 

 with a minnow impaled on a gang of hooks and form- 

 ing spinning tackle." Robert Roosevelt in his " Su- 

 perior Fishing" (1865) says: "That evening was 

 devoted to the black bass which took fly and spoon 

 greedily " but as trolling a fly was more commonly 

 practiced than casting it he probably used that method. 



That the sport of fly fishing for bass was a long 

 time in getting general recognition may be seen by re- 

 ferring to the files of Forest and Stream, where one 

 will find that a spirited controversy was waged in the 

 early 'yo's on the subject of whether or not a black 

 bass will rise to a fly ! 



FATHER OF BLACK BASS FISHING 



The title of " The Father of Black Bass Fishing " 

 has been earned by Dr. James Alexander Henshall. 

 It was his writings in the periodicals and particularly 

 his "Book of the Black Bass" (1881) that popular- 



