50 



duty is performed, nothing is so attractive for his 

 capture as a gaudy sea-trout fly ; but the striped 

 bass is not dainty, and many pei'sons of experience 

 persistently use with the greatest success a piece 

 of white or scarlet rag tied over their hook instead 

 of the more complicated and expensive invention. 

 Fishing in the sea, however, the shrimp is the most 

 popular and gentlemanly bait, trolled along tlie 

 surface after the manner of the fly, at which the 

 fish break, similar to trout or salmon ; still there 

 are days Avhen you can not tlius allure them ; and 

 soft-shell crab, spearing (a small transparent fish 

 about the size of a minnow), or squid, have to be 

 resorted to ; even the spoon bait has been known to 

 be successful when all other attractions have failed. 



Although this fish annually chooses a change from 

 salt to fresh water, still it is not necessary for his 

 existence, numbers having been experimented on by 

 detaining them for years in fresh, where instead of 

 losing flesh, they were pronounced to have improved 

 much both in size and condition. So exceedingly 

 popular is the striped bass in America, that those 

 watering-places in whose vicinity he is known to 

 abound, receive annually an immense influx of 

 visitors attracted chiefly by the prospect o^ enjoy- 



