40 FISHING GOSSIP. 
tide, to one of those old sunken hulks, so much like 
Noah’s Arks retired from business, beneath whose 
submerged timbers lie crag and rugged ledge, gor- 
geous with many an animal and vegetable wonder. 
Upward like giant flag and rush stream the fronds of 
the Laminaria digitata and countless whip-like lashes 
of the Chorda flum; whilst groups of corallines 
and alge glitter about like brilliants in a sapphire 
setting. Here too, amongst the secret, crannies of 
the soddened oak, might be seen, if we could look 
close enough, creeping annelids, little lurking gobies, 
and other pigmy haunters of submerged leviathans. 
Tiny crabs, shrimps, and other crustaceans scramble 
in and out, through what was once the window of a 
state cabin ; whilst clusters of mussels, and whole 
beds of serpeda and balanus, grow everywhere 
around, 
Here, then, is one of the chosen hunting-grounds 
of the bass, and here we will watch him engaged in 
what is to him the main business of life—the chase ; 
thrusting his strong nose by a sudden upward dart 
into the tufts of weed, and then by a sweep of the 
tail, retreating on winnowing fin ready to pounce on 
the dislodged prey. Catching him when thus engaged 
is by no means as easy as it looks, but may be thus 
attempted :—A strong rod of average length (almost 
any strong rod will answer the purpose), fitted with 
a large winch, having plenty of fine strong prepared 
