FISH AND FISHING, 



AFTER SEA BASS. 

 Miss S. Louise Bruce.* 



In the autumn of 1894, the sea bass were 

 plentiful at the mouth of the St. John's 

 river. My father had been intending for 

 some time to go and try for them; and when 

 he did go, with a friend and two boatmen, 

 something, I do not remember what, pre- 

 vented my going. I was greatly disappoint- 

 ed, and still more so when they returned in 

 about 2 hours, with 21 bass, the largest of 

 which would weigh fully 45 pounds and the 

 smallest not less than 25. A few weeks 

 later he said he was going again. Then I 

 set my foot down and said he should not go 

 without Mamma and I. He replied that it 

 was rather rough to take ladies out; but 

 finally decided to have us go. 



It did not take us long to get ready, into 

 the boat, up sails, and away for the fishing 

 grounds, against ahead wind and tide. 



When we had dropped our anchor and 

 our sails, we began to feel the sea. It was 

 rough, and our little 23-foot yawl-rigged 

 yacht danced as if she were trying to keep 

 time to aquickstep, a galop, and a waltz, all 

 at the same time. 



When sea bass bite, they bite, and when 

 they pull, they pull. They waste no time in 

 playing with a bait. They, commenced to" 

 bite soon, but we missed several strikes and 

 none were caught for some time. Finally I 

 felt a sharp jerk at my line, then a rush, and 

 away went the line through my hands with 

 the speed of an express train. Of course, 

 when I felt the line go, I shouted that I had 

 one; so when the line slackened all at once, 

 you can imagine how I felt. But no, he was 

 not gone, and after a hard struggle I got 

 him to the top of the water and finally into 

 the boat. 



Not long after that, Mamma dropped her 

 line and leaned over the side as if she did 

 not feel just right. She felt " bad " several 

 times, but kept on fishing just the same. 

 There was another boat not.farfrom us, with 

 several men in her. One of them had to 

 give up entirely and stretch out on the 

 seats. How he stayed on them, in such a 

 sea, I cannot comprehend. The other men 

 looked as if they too thought they would feel 

 better on dry land. 



Mr. B , a gentleman who was with us, 



insisted on standing up; and the bows he 

 made and the fancy steps he took were 

 laughable to see. I thought he would surely 

 go overboard, but he did not. He hooked 

 something that took his line with an irresist- 

 ible rush. It got off, and when he pulled up 

 his line his hook was perfectly straight. We 

 supposed it to have been a large shark, as 

 nothing else could have straightened a big 

 bass hook in that manner. My father hook- 

 ed something that he had a severe fight with, 

 and when, at last, he got it alongside it 

 proved to be an immense sting-ray, or 



*The writer of this is only 16 years old. Few girls 

 of her age have had such experiences as she narrates. 

 — Editor. 



" stingaree," as we call them, which must 

 have weighed 300 pounds. It could not be 

 got aboard, but had to be shot, and several 

 shots were required to kill it. Papa then 

 lassoed its tail and cut out the sting, which 

 is fully 6 inches long and the thickest one 

 I ever saw. He caught another sting-ray, but 

 not so large. 



When Mamma thought she had fed the 

 fishes long enough, she gave the word, and 

 we got our anchor, hoisted our sails, and 

 started for home. She was glad to get 

 ashore, and so was I, though thanks to kind- 

 ly Nature, I never "feel bad " on the water, 

 thought the continual motion of the boat 

 made me feel somewhat fatigued. We did 

 not make a large catch, only 7 bass and 2 

 sting-rays, but it was certainly fine sport, 

 what there was of it. I would not have any 

 one suppose that the fish caught on 

 these two occasions, something like 700 

 pounds, was wasted, for there are a great 

 number of poor people in this vicinity, both 

 white and colored, who accepted portions 

 most gratefully. 



A BOOK ON INDIANA FISHES. 



Editor Recreation : 



Washington, D. C. 



The Nineteenth Annual Report of the In- 

 diana Geological and Natural History Sur- 

 vey, just issued, contains a descriptive list 

 of the " Lampreys and Fishes of Indiana," 

 prepared by Dr. O. P. Hay, which will prove 

 of great value to sportsmen and others inter- 

 ested in the fishes of that region. This pa- 

 per contains carefully written diagnoses of 

 the families and genera represented, and 

 full descriptions, in sufficiently untechnical 

 language, of the 144 species found in the 

 State. Keys, more or less natural, are given, 

 by means of which the various species may 

 be easily identified. The total number of 

 species given in the list is 144, though it is 

 given in the introduction as 150 in round 

 numbers ; and this number is probably 

 more nearly correct, as several species which 

 Dr. Hay overlooked are known to occur in 

 the State. 



The great majority of these 144 species 

 are, of course, minnows, darters, and other 

 small fishes which are scarcely known to 

 anyone except the ichthyologist — and the 

 small boy, who, rightly constituted, is always 

 a true naturalist. 



The game fishes — those known to every 

 angler — are well represented. Both species 

 of black bass are abundant, and it is doubt- 

 ful if there is another State in the Union 

 that furnishes as fine black bass fishing as 

 does Indiana. In the hundreds of small 

 lakes in the northern part of the State, the 

 large-mouthed species abounds, and in the 

 rivers and creeks the more gamy small- 

 mouth bass is everywhere abundant. Any 

 reader of Recreation who wants the finest 

 bass fishing to be had anywhere can get it 

 by going to Lake Maxinkuckee, in northern 



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