322 Book of the Black Bass. 



the angler's fly or bait? It is best that it is so; but why 

 is it so ? This is a query that naturally rises to the angler's 

 mind, especially after an unsuccessful day. 



I might answer this question by asking another: Why 

 is it that the sportsman in a days outing, with the best 

 dogs, finds so few grouse or quail in comparison to the great 

 numbers known to " use " in certain localities ? 



The inference is plain in either case, for self -preservation 

 is the first law of nature ; but while the sportsman is fully 

 conscious of this, the angler is usually not so logical, be- 

 cause he does not reflect upon the fact that the fish is as 

 fully aware of his presence as the grouse or quail is of that 

 of the sportsman and his dogs. 



Then again we should not expect to find all the fish on 

 the feed at the same time; if we did so we would have no 

 cause to complain of their not rising or biting. In the 

 struggle for existence among animals, including fishes, it is 

 the majority that obtains enough to satisfy its wants, and 

 the minority only that does not. Then it is from the mi- 

 nority, in all probability, that we must look for the few 

 that are likely to see and take our lure. 



Predacious fishes feed almost entirely at night, only the 

 hungry ones, perhaps, that do so during the day; and 

 though we often take fish with their stomachs full, they 

 are evidently still on the feed, for such food is usually in a 

 fresh or undigested condition, showing that it has been 

 recently swallowed. 



Predacious fishes are more active during the night, and, 

 I believe, rest or sleep during the day, while the smaller 

 fishes, as minnows, etc., are more active during daylight; 

 for it is not unlikely that they seclude themselves, or keep 

 in very shallow water, during the night, to prevent their 

 being swallowed by their larger and piscivorous congeners. 



