222 



RECREATION. 



air, and shake off the hooks, or break the 

 spoon from the fastenings. 



HOW I GOT A BIG ONE. 



Often the weights of trout are given, but 

 few reports of Dr. Henshall's fish — the 

 black bass. I should like to know the 

 weight of the largest bass. We have some 

 mighty ones here. They go by the name 

 of trout in this state. 



I caught a bass that weighed- n pounds 

 14 ounces. While in good condition, he 

 was not fat. 



The lake where I caught him was muddy 

 around the shore, and a belt of lily-pads 

 and bonnets extended into 5 or 6 feet of 

 water. The " old soaker " frequented one 

 spot, mainly, which I discovered by Seeing 

 the lily-pads knocked about, when he 

 moved around. He was too far from shore 

 for my tackle to reach, so I crawled along 

 an old slat-and-wire water-fence, that ran 

 nearly to his bed. 



The old fence was rickety, but I soon 

 had enough barbs stuck into me to hold me 

 fast. I had a reed pole, a braided linen 

 line, and a 4-0 hook, baited with a perch 4 

 inches long. I dropped the bait down 

 where the " soaker " was jarring the 

 bonnets. 



A minute passed, and I was becoming 

 restive under the influence of the barb- 

 wire, when, suddenly, like a shot from a 

 "didn't-know-it-was-loaded" gun, my cork 

 went under. I promptly struck, and — 

 " Law'd! Law'd! " how he did knock those 

 lily-pads. 



Having no reel, I could give him no line 

 in his rushes, so merely kept the pole well 

 up and trusted to the strength of the tackle. 

 He rushed back and forth in all directions, 

 and once got foul of the lily-pads. Only 

 an angler knows what I suffered during 

 this time. As I heard a boy say once, in 

 describing a difficulty he took part in, 

 " W"e fought and we fought," and owing 

 to the instability and barbs of the fence, I 

 had my hands full. We tried our strength 

 5 minutes or more, before my fish gave up. 

 I towed him up to the fence, and there he 

 lay with his mouth open, and what a 

 mouth! I actually thrust my hand (and 

 it is no fairy hand, either) into it. He was 

 a large-mouth bass in every sense of the 

 word. 



I have caught many bass in the lakes 

 around here, of from 6 to 10 pounds. I 

 captured one of 8 pounds weight, with a 

 bow and arrow. 



I expect to enjoy myself this winter. My 

 partner and I are going to take a 3 or 4 

 months' hunt, in the wilderness bordering 

 the Florida everglades. It is a great game 

 country, down there, and little hunted. 



I shall use the Winchester '94 model 30- 

 30 smokeless rifle, thanks to the informa- 



tion gained in Recreation which is first 

 in my estimation, of any magazine pub- 

 lished. Like the English yachts, when the 

 " America " won the cup, " there is no 

 second." I make the newsdealers tired 

 asking if the next number of Recreation 

 is in yet. I have to have it. 



C. O. M., Limona, Fla. 



BLACK BASS THROUGH THE ICE. 



Exeter, N. H.— County Solicitor Hoyt 

 exhibited, at the postoffice, a small- 

 mouthed black bass, 4^2 pounds in weight, 

 caught through the ice at Little pond, 

 Kingston, by William E. Robinson. 



So -far as recorded this is the first black 

 bass ever caught through the ice, in win- 

 ter, and scientists have declared that the 

 bass hibernates, burying in the mud and 

 there remaining dormant until spring. 



Prof. Henshall, in his treatise, declares 

 that he has yet to learn of a black bass ever 

 caught through the ice, except in the early 

 spring when the ice was breaking up. 



Dr. D. C. Estes, a Minnesota authority, 

 and G. C. Scott, author of " Fishing in 

 American Waters," declare to the same ef- 

 fect, and a Smithsonian Institute report 

 says black bass are never caught in winter. 



There is no question that the Kingston 

 fish is a small-mouthed black bass. 



Commenting on the above clipping, from 

 the " Boston Herald," Prof. B. W. Ever- 

 mann, of the U. S. Fish Commission, says: 



" I have heard of bass being caught 

 through the ice, but I never saw it done. 

 I never tried it, nor have I ever seen it 

 tried. Bass may bury in the mud in win- 

 ter but I have never seen it. On the other 

 hand I have frequently, in the Wabash val- 

 ley, seen bass swimming about under the 

 ice, and have killed them by striking the 

 ice a smart blow above them. 



" This is mostly negative evidence and 

 I am sorry I cannot give more definite in- 

 formation." 



On the 17th of June I took my family to 

 Watkins Glen, by way of Seneca lake, from 

 Geneva to Watkins. Shortly after leaving 

 Geneva I noticed dead fish floating on the 

 lake. These fish presented a silvery ap- 

 pearance and from their shape appeared to 

 belong to the bass family. By standing in 

 the prow I could count from 10 to 30 of 

 them, ranging from 3 to 6 inches in length, 

 at any time during the trip. The coves and 

 inlets we passed, as well as the banks of the 

 lake, were covered with these. fish. There 

 seemed to have been an epidemic among 

 them. Can any reader of Recreation 

 throw any light on this subject? 



Sycamore, Syracuse, N, Y, 



