THE basses: fres h-w ater and marine 



is sometimes effective in eddies where tides sweep 

 the end of a pier. Shrimp and shedder-crab are 

 choice baits for brackish waters ; worms are killing^ 

 in the deep pools of fresh tidal rivers ; small pieces 

 of fish, little minnows, or quite young eels are good 

 on the flood tide along the margin of water-plants. 



In brackish water the best fishing is to be had 

 from an anchored boat at half tides; full tide is 

 best in tidal rivers; low water finds the perch in 

 deep holes among rocks or sunken timbers. A com- 

 mon practice is to row up a tidal creek on the ebb 

 as far as possible, collect shrimp, and fish on the 

 young flood, using a small shrimp on a fine hook 

 and sometimes adding an artificial fly or two, cast- 

 ing moderately close to the banks. Some anglers 

 have been successful on warm May days in casting 

 with a single small eel, moved like a heavy fly. 



" Large white perch are frequently caught at 

 night along the mud flats of our Eastern rivers. 

 The angler runs the bow of his boat into the soft 

 mud near the shore on the incoming tide, and with 

 a rod about four feet long fishes from the stem 

 of his boat without using a float. As the tide rises 

 he shoves the boat farther up on the flat, as the 

 large perch follow the feeding minnows as the tide 

 grows and bite freely at the garden worms com- 

 monly used as bait when fishing by this method. 



" But it is at Betterton, Md., at the head 

 of Chesapeake Bay, where the white perch excel 



226 



