THE BLACK BASS 



'Then back to the smoke and the smother, 



The uproar an' crush o' the thrang ; 

 An' back to the labour an' pother. 



But happy and hearty and strong. 

 Wi' a braw hght o' mountain and muirland. 



Out-flashing frae forehead and e'e, 

 Wi' a blessing flung back to the norland. 



An' a thousand, dear Coquet, to thee ! 

 As again we resume the auld shackle. 



Our gad an' ga£E stowed awa'. 

 An' — good-bye to the canny "red heckle," 



The heckle that tackled them a' ! ' 



The following flies are favourites in America : — ^Parmacheene 

 BeUe, Silver Doctor, the Hackles, Seth Green, Lord Baltimore,. 

 Eoyal Coachman, March Brown, Scarlet Ibis, Cherry, Montreal,, 

 Professor, White MOler, Golden Dustman, the Henshall, Horicon,^ 

 the Bead, Premier and many more. 



There is no better demonstration that angling is not all in the 

 catch than the delights of retrospection. Equipped with the 

 proper rod, reel, Une, flies, the angler is prepared to forage in the 

 realms of the bass ; and thanks to the fact that the fish habitu- 

 ates itself to almost any and all conditions, bass' may be found 

 in many and unexpected places. 



There may be no actual angling, but then the angler turns- 

 to his tackle, his book of flies, his rods, and with some boon com- 

 panion over good cigar and pipe, lives over the scenes of the 

 summer. 



' Call to mind the summer day, 

 The early harvest morning. 

 The sky with sun and clouds at play. 

 And flowers with breezes blowing.' 



As to the methods, there are the deKghts of wading and casting^ 

 in a beautiful river like the Delaware, or from a skiff, with all the 

 esthetic comforts, on the St. Lawrence, and I confess to have 

 enjoyed this the most. I believe my boatman, Bill Massey, 

 knew every stone and rock in the river, as he could always fore- 



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