74 THE SMALL-MOUTHED BASS 



But it is the dream of every ambitious angler to kill, 

 some (lay or other, a bass weighing at least five pounds; 

 some would proba])ly be satisfied with such a performance, 

 while others, doubtless, place six pounds as the extreme 

 limit of their ambition; and there are still others, a few, who 

 hope to see the day when they may have at the end of their 

 line a fish which will eclipse all previous records. 



For the information of all such gentlemen of the rod it 

 may be stated that the largest small-mouthed bass ever 

 taken was one captured by L. D. Boynton, in Glen Falls 

 Lake, New York State, on August 18, 1888, which weighed 

 eight pounds and ten ounces, with a girth of eighteen inches 

 and three-quarters, and a length of two feet, one inch. 



Since that time bass have occasionally been caught 

 weighing seven pounds or a little over; but this stands as a 

 record. 



No doubt, vears ago, larger bass than this have been 

 taken in many of the smaller inclosed lakes of Ontario, but 

 no official record was kept, and it is only recently that any 

 attempt has been made to keep any kind of register of large 

 fish caught in Canada. 



The "Star," an evening newspaper of Toronto, commenced 

 in 1901 this work, at the suggestion of Mr. J. T. Clark, and 

 the following list shows that we may yet hope to improve 

 on the present record of 8 lbs., 10 ozs. : 

 1901 — John King, Havelock; fish caught in Balsam Lake, 



6 lbs., 4 ozs. 

 1902 — A. S. Laing, St. Catharines, fish caught in Rice Lake, 



5 lbs., 13 ozs. 



1903 — John J. Irwin, Smith Township, fish caught in Clear 



Lake, 7 lbs. 

 1904 — J. E. Smith, Verona, fish caught near Verona, 6 lbs., 



14 ozs. 

 1905 — H. C. Barker, Toronto, fish caught at Trent Bridge, 



6 lbs., 11 ozs. 



