VI PREFACE. 



isfied the most greedy soul. Again^ the excursion 

 to Point Judith when the big striped-bass were 

 running. What with the delicious salt air of the 

 sea, the rugged cliffs which formed our fishing- 

 ground, the exercise of the nicest skill in casting, 

 the excitement of guarding against the in-rolling 

 breakers which might at any moment carry the an- 

 gler ofE his feet, and above all the sense of freedom 

 with the limitless ocean in front, and the rocky shore 

 and bare pastures behind. Could anything be more 

 perfect ? Mere numbers may make what is techni- 

 cally termed "good fishing," but that alone can 

 never supply " Superior Pishing," in the full accep- 

 tation of the words. 



The reader may miss the noblest of all the deni- 

 zens of the deep, and demand why the salmon has 

 been omitted. Certainly not for any want of re- 

 spect for the "king of fish," or of appreciation for 

 the delights of taking him, which might not inappro- 

 priately be termed the " supremest fishing," but 

 simjjly for the conclusive reason that he does exist 

 — to speak from the position of the practical angler 

 — in the United States. So after his exclusion first 

 stands the trout, next to him the bass, whether of 

 the salt or fresh water, for it is hard to decide 

 between them, then the blue-fish, the pike-perch, 

 the lake-trouts, and possibly winding up with the 

 mascallonge, for as to the grayling, it is so rare that 

 it can hardly be said to be an American fish. All 

 these require the best of tackle, and the highest de- 

 velopment of skill, and when captured are a source 



