THE BASSES: FRES H-W ATER AND MARINE 



are not more than a hundred feet in breadth. With 

 an environment such as this, the black-bass angler 

 who uses a fly will always find, the largest and gam- 

 est fish; and if he extends his outing until night 

 closes in, his creel will doubtless be filled to reple- 

 tion, as the bass rise to the feathers at all hours of 

 the night, be it moonlit or otherwise. At such 

 times they seem to prefer a dark-colored fly to a 

 light one, and the similarity can be explained only 

 upon the theory that the fish mistakes the dark fly, 

 as it is trailed through the water, for a cricket, upon 

 which they are in the habit of feeding greedily when 

 they can get them. It also seems to prove that the 

 sense of sight in the black bass is more than ordi- 

 narily keen. 



The method of casting the fly for black bass is 

 the same as that used in trout-fishing, although the 

 distance cast is generally longer, because of the 

 more open waters in which bass are found, and 

 of the fact that the form of the angler can be seen 

 at a greater distance by the fish, which is more 

 skittish and more easily alarmed than the trout at 

 any unusual condition existing on the stream or on 

 its banks. Another point which is, however, open 

 to discussion is that many anglers for bass allow 

 the flies, when cast, to sink two or three inches below 

 the surface, believing that this method is more likely 

 to attract the fish, as they are not, to the same extent 

 as the trout, surface-feeders. Again, and more to 



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