Preface vii 
question of tackle and methods is of paramount 
importance to anglers, and as my own interest 
has been along the line of experiments with the 
lightest tackle, lines, and rods for the largest 
fishes, in the interests of fair play for the splen- 
did game, I have included the reference to this 
feature in each chapter where the description 
of the capture of each fish and its peculiarities 
occurs. 
The fishes represent an important and interest- 
ing branch of the animal kingdom. They are di- 
vided into about two hundred families and twelve 
thousand species, America alone claiming thirty- 
three hundred, which have been made the subject 
of untiring investigation, especially during recent 
years, by many distinguished specialists, among 
whom in this country have been Louis Agassiz, 
Charles L. McKay, Spencer F. Baird, James Car- 
son Brevoort, William O. Ayres, David H. Storer, 
David Starr Jordan, Theodore Gill, George Brown 
Goode, Tarleton H. Bean, Samuel Garman, Bar- 
ton W. Evermann, and many more whose works 
are found in the United States Government Re- 
ports and those of the various institutions of sci- 
ence in this.and other countries. Among these 
may be mentioned the works of Louis and Alex- 
