14 SEA-FISH. 
the bass. Generally preferring the neighbourhood 
of estuaries, and even wandering some miles up 
rivers, this is among the fish that perform regular 
journeys to and from the deep water, hugging the 
coast from the middle of June until the end 
of August, on some parts of the coast rather 
later. Through the greater part of its sojourn 
in the shallow water, the bass feeds, especially on 
fine mornings and evenings, close to the surface, 
where it may often be found by following the move- 
ments of the gulls that co-operate in the destruction 
of “mackerel midge” and sand-eels. After a spell of 
rough weather, however, bass are found just behind 
the broken water, routing up the sand, and are 
therefore taken in such spots with a bait pitched 
into the surf. The feature in the bass that most 
concerns the angler is the presence of eight or nine 
sharp spines in the first dorsal fin, which he should 
carefully avoid ; indeed, the bass is altogether one 
of the most prickly of fish, and it is advisable to 
stun it, and hold it in a cloth, before attempting 
to remove the hook. To these few particulars 
of the fish that bear directly on its capture the 
present remarks may be restricted. 
It is commonly thought, by those who have no 
special reason to think at all about the matter, that 
Blue Sharks belong exclusively to tropical climes ; 
shark and the assurance that there are many 
species of shark in the English Channel, examples 
of many hundreds of pounds being netted on the 
south-west coast, would be, covertly at any rate, 
classed with the memoirs of Mandeville and 
1 Bass are caught with rod and line fully a mile above Arundel 
on high spring tides. As long as the water tastes salt (a simple 
test), they will take the bait, a live dace or roach, 
