Conditions which Goveen Biting op Fish. 331 



Then, heavy and continued rains, violent winds, and the 

 change of season, affect the food-supply of fishes, and, con- 

 sequently, the fishes themselves. These various causes 

 make fish seem capricious in their time and manner of 

 feeding. 



Then, again, v?hile all the conditions may be favorable 

 for their feeding, they may be deterred from seeking their 

 food by a fear of enemies, and only venture forth vsrhen 

 the cause of such fear has disappeared, or their qualms of 

 stomach overcome their prudence. 



But little can be learned in this respect from fishes that 

 are confined in aquaria, or from those that are artificially 

 cultivated, for these unnatural conditions presuppose a 

 change in their habits. 



We know that fish, in their native waters, are quite 

 timid, and ever on the alert for danger — a footstep on 

 the bank, or a shadow cast suddenly on the water, will 

 cause them to hastily skurry away. 



No food, however tempting, can entice them so long as 

 there is an appearance of danger, and their caution is then 

 set down as eccentricity. 



Now, all this may, or may not, be ; but it is as reasonable 

 as any other theory; and this habit of alternate feasting 

 and fasting, for a longer or a shorter time, will explain, in 

 some measure, many of the features in regard to the un- 

 certainty of " biting " in fishes of inland waters. 



We really know very little about it. We only know that 

 when fishing a favorable locality where there are " thou- 

 sands " of black bass, or even in small, circumscribed waters 

 where there are certainly " hundreds," we do well, by the 

 most careful fishing, to secure a half-dozen or a score of 

 fish, as the case may be, on the most propitious occasions. 



Why is it then that so few, out of so many, respond to 

 31 



