CHAPTER XIII 
THE CHANNEL-BASS 
“The blessing of St. Peter’s, master, be upon all that hate 
contentions, and love quietnesse, and virtue, and go a-angling.” 
— Izaak Watton. 
Innes .RanpoLtpH has described the channel- 
bass or red-drum in verse: — 
“Long as a salmon, if not so stout, 
And springy and swift as a mountain trout.” 
Any one who has taken the fish will recognize 
the faithfulness of the picture. The poet is too 
modest; the fish is often longer than a salmon, 
and far more active than a trout. In truth, the 
marine fishes have so long been caught with 
heavy hand-lines that their true game qualities 
have never been fully appreciated. Let the trout- 
fly fisherman take a bonito of six pounds with the 
rod with which a six-pound trout has been suc- 
cessfully landed, or attempt to catch a seventeen- 
pound yellowtail or kingfish with the correctly 
appointed salmon rod, which has taken salmon of 
similar weight, and the relative qualities of the 
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