THE BASSES: FRES H w ATER AND MARINE 



ready to accept bait or fly if it looks good to eat. 

 There are few fresh-water fishes that excel the 

 white bass as a source of sport with light tackle. 

 It can be caught in large numbers with bait or 

 artificial fly, and gives excellent play. As a food- 

 fish it is highly esteemed, its flesh being considered 

 quite as good as that of the black basses. 



Size and Rate of Growth 



The shape of the body changes with age, adult 

 individuals showing much greater depth than the 

 young. A fish in good condition will weigh about 

 one pound when one foot long, and its depth will 

 be about one third of its length. The fish is said 

 to reach the weight of five pounds in the Ouachita 

 River, Arkansas. 



Methods of Capture 



The white bass is taken with bait by still-fishing, 

 or by casting either from the shore or from an 

 anchored boat. A small silvery minnow hooked 

 through the lips makes a very good bait. It takes 

 the artificial fly also with great readiness, but only 

 in shallow water or when the fish are schooling near 

 the surface. Fly-fishing gives the best results in 

 spring, when it may be practised at any time of 

 day.. A trout fly-rod of six to seven and a half 



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