140 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



There is a wide-spread and prevalent notion that the 

 small-mouthed Bass is the " game " species par excellence, 

 but I doubt if this distinction is well founded. In 

 common with most anglers I at one time shared this belief, 

 but from a long series of observations I am now of the 

 opinion that the large-mouthed Bass, all things being 

 equal, displays as much pluck, and exhibits as untiring 

 fighting qualities as its small-mouthed congener. 



Fish inhabiting swiftly running streams are always more 

 vigorous and gamy than those in still waters, and it is 

 probable that where the large-mouthed Bass exists alone 

 in very shallow and sluggish waters, of high temperature 

 and thickly grown with algae, it will exhibit less com- 

 bative qualities, consequent on the enervating influences 

 of its surroundings; but where both species inhabit the 

 same waters, and are subject to the same conditions, I am 

 convinced that no angler can tell whether he has hooked a 

 large-mouthed or a small-mouthed Bass, from their resist- 

 ance and mode of fighting, provided they are of equal 

 weight, until he has the ocular evidence. 



I use the expression " equal weight " advisedly, for most 

 anglers must have remarked that the largest Bass of either 

 species are not necessarily the hardest fighters ; on the 

 contrary, a Bass of two or two and a half pounds weight 

 will usually make a more gallant fight than one of twice 

 the size, and this fact, I think, will account in a great 

 measure for the popular idea that the small-mouthed Bass 

 is the " gamest " species for this reason : 



Where the two species co-exist in the same stream or 

 lake, the large-mouthed Bass always grows to a larger size 

 than the other species, and an angler having just landed a 

 two pound small-mouthed Bass after a long struggle, next 



