PREFACE 



the marine basses, especially that king of marine 

 game-fish, the striped bass ; and the Editor is fortu- 

 nate in securing for this subject such a writer as 

 Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, whose practical angling skill, 

 combined with his well-known scientific knowledge, 

 furnishes the reader with complete information on 

 marine fishing. 



It has been thought best to have the matter re- 

 lating to the fresh-water basses entirely from the 

 pen of one author, and that concerning the marine 

 basses from another, making possible a more com- 

 plete and satisfactory result. The late William C. 

 Harris's contribution was his last work, his closing 

 chapters having been finished in Saint Vincent's 

 Hospital. Although most of his writings were on 

 trout and trout-fishing, he preferred, and spent 

 many years of his later life in fly-fishing for black 

 bass, and he often expressed a desire to have the 

 chance of writing a complete book on the bass (a 

 subject on which none were more capable). This 

 volume gave him the opportunity in the plenitude 

 of his powers, and he produced what he himself 

 considered the best work of his life. His idea of 

 introducing three anglers, each with a different 

 mode of capture, to tell in their own way how best 

 to angle for the gamy bass, is a happy one, which 

 he had in mind years ago. 



As the illustrations of flies for the book on 

 Brook Trout were prepared by an expert, a similar 



