The Sunfisb Family 39 



weeds. Bartram described bobbing as practised 

 in Florida, for black-bass, nearly a century and a 

 half ago. 



Although bass fishing dates back to the middle 

 of the eighteenth century, when bobbing, skitter- 

 ing, and still-fishing were common methods in the 

 extreme Southern states for the large-mouth bass, 

 and though the dawn of the nineteenth century 

 saw bait-fishing and fly-fishing for the small- 

 mouth bass in Kentucky, it is surprising how little 

 was known in the Northern and Eastern states 

 about the black-bass and bass fishing a century 

 after Bartram described bobbing for that game- 

 fish in the narrative of his travels. Even so late 

 as 1871, when the Forest and Stream was estab- 

 lished, very little appeared in its pages anent bass 

 fishing. Indeed, a few years later, a discussion 

 lasting a year or more appeared in its columns 

 from week to week, as to whether the black-bass 

 would rise to the fly. Previous to the publication 

 of the writer's " Book of the Black-bass "in 1881, 

 no work on angling gave any but the most mea- 

 gre account of black-bass or bass fishing. The 

 "American Angler's Guide," published in 1849 

 by John J. Brown, states that the black-bass has 

 rows of small teeth, two dorsal fins, and a swallow- 



