30 Bass, Pike, and Percb 



Still-fishing is practised from the bank or 

 from an anchored boat. If the bait is live 

 minnows, no float is necessary ; but if crawfish, 

 helgramites, cut-bait, or worms are employed, 

 a very small float is useful to keep the bait off 

 the bottom. The boat should be anchored in 

 close proximity to the feeding-grounds of the 

 bass, and the angler should keep as still as pos- 

 sible. Contrar)^ to the popular opinion, fish hear 

 sounds, not only those made in the water, but 

 those in the air as well, otherwise they would not 

 be provided with so delicate an auditory appara- 

 tus ; because they do not always notice sounds 

 made in the air is no proof that they do not hear 

 them. The suggestions already made as to the 

 hooking and playing and landing the bass apply 

 to still-fishing as well. The minnow is best 

 hooked through both lips, but if they are very 

 small, they may be hooked just under the dorsal 

 fin. 



THE LARGE-MOUTH BLACK-BASS 



{Microptencs salmoides) 



The large-mouth black-bass was also first de- 

 scribed by the French ichthyologist Lacepede, in 

 1802, from a drawing and description sent to him 

 from South Carolina by M. Bosc, under the local 



