CHAPTER IV. 

 Midland Black Bass Fishing. 



"Inch for inch and pound for pound the bass 

 is the gamest fish that swims. — (Henshall.) 



There are now very few good bass ponds 

 within fifty miles of Raleigh. Some of the 

 best have been allowed to go down with the 

 breaking of dams, while other good ponds have 

 been fished dry without any effort being made to 

 restock them. The owners of all ponds have 

 generally acted generously toward fishermen, 

 and the kindness has never been wilfully abused 

 by any true disciple of Walton. Yet their 

 patience has often been overtaxed by the wan- 

 ton kind of people. 



Until two years ago, Hunnicut's pond, in Har- 

 nett County, aliout 25 miles from Raleigh, was 

 full of bass, jack and perch ; but the water had 

 to be turned out to fix the dajn, and it is not 

 yet ripe for fishing. It is situated on Black 

 River, which rises near Angier and empties 

 into the Cape Fear River. This is the only 



