THE basses: fres h-w ater and marine 



ing," — a term insulting to the majesty of the fish 

 in his intelligence of resources to escape capture. 



Leaping Traits 



With many anglers the grade of a fish, when 

 restrained by the rod, is determined by his practice 

 of leaping from the water. I doubt if the salmon 

 of the fresh water, or the tarpon of the ocean, 

 would be so highly esteemed as a game-fish were 

 it not for their leaping qualities. The black bass is 

 an acrobat by heredity. No matter when you 

 fasten one in running water, he will sooner or later 

 come into the air. I have known them to leap 

 from an eddy on the side of a rift (they do not 

 feed in strong rapids) and alight in the boU of 

 the current, and fight there with an apparent 

 knowledge that the swift down-flowing water 

 aided their muscular efforts to escape. 



Of the many fishes in American waters there are 

 to my knowledge only twelve that invariably come 

 out of the water when they feel the tension of a re- 

 straining line. These are the black bass, the salmon 

 {both sea and landlocked), the rainbow-trout, the 

 unspotted mascalonge of the Northwest, the gray- 

 ling, and semi-occasionally the black spotted trout 

 of Western waters. These all have a fresh-water 

 habitat, and of them the black bass, the salmons, 

 rainbow-trout, and grayling are the only ones 



