FLY-FISHING FOR BASS, ETC. 1 23 



water it is advisable to close a small split shot 

 about a foot above the hook, so that the line 

 is sunk a foot, or even two, beneath the water. 

 The small-mouth black bass is usually found 

 over a rocky bottom, near old submerged trunks 

 of trees, and in deeper water generally than its 

 confrere of the "large-mouth" species. But both 

 take the ily greedily at times ; and when either 

 is hooked, there is quite a "" circus " on hand to 

 deal with. Especially is this so with the small- 

 mouth fish. He is the very bull-dog of the 

 water. As soon as the hook pricks him, the 

 line runs out with startling rapidity ; then he 

 leaps from the water, following this up with 

 other leaps, sometimes to the number of six, 

 or even more ; and it is necessary to be patient 

 and wary if you would secure the fish in the end. 

 I do not think any fish that swims is superior to 

 the black basses in fighting-power on the hook. 



By the way, the young angler is sometimes 

 puzzled to know how to distinguish between the 

 /arg^e-mouth and the Jwa/Z-mouth fish. Let him 

 do it by observing the feature that gives them 

 their colloquial names. The large-mouth has a 

 proportionately much larger mouth, extending to 



