Nov. i8, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
418 
Black Bass Fishing in Pennsylvania. 
If ever the fishermen in Pennsylvania had a problem 
to match the famous 15 puzzle, it is to be found in the 
small-mouth black bass. An introduced fish, it has 
made itself at home in the waters of the Keystone State, 
and keeps the angler and the Department of Fisheries 
guessing what it will do next. ■ About the time either or 
both imagine they have solved the problem of its 
habits, movements and general behavior, it starts off 
on some new vagary, and human wits have to be set to 
work again. 
There is probably no fish living in the waters of Penn- 
sylvania which has had such a varied standing with the 
fishermen of the State. When first introduced through 
the medium of a locomotive water tank in 1870, it was 
welcomed warmly, and when the members of the family 
could be fished for legally, they were sought with eager- 
ness by anglers, but to their disgust, in vain. Prior to 
their advent, the principal baits for Pennsylvania river 
fishes were worms, dough and similar primitive lures. 
The fishermen became disgusted at the failure of the 
newcomers to bite, and as the fish multiplied and were 
still uncapturable, curses took the place of blessings. 
It was freely declared that black bass would not bite 
upon a hook, and to this crime was added the greater 
one of devouring the valuable food and high class game 
chub. Like the fox in th.e case of the grapes, the fish- 
ermen consoled themselves by declaring the chub was a 
far superior fish to the black bass anyhow. Then 
heavier anathemas than ever were hurled at the new 
introduction. By and by the gnglers discovered that the 
bass loved a minnow, a helgramite, a frog and other 
living creatures and abhorred dead or still bait, and 
immediately the stock of the bass o^nce more went above 
par. Soon, in the estimation of many, it became the 
greatest game fish that swims. It was declared to be far 
superior to the brook trout both in game and food 
qualities, and the consensus of opinion was that no 
man should waste his time on such an insignificant 
game and poor table fish as the river chub. Some peo- 
ple even went so far as to compare it favorably with 
the lordly Atlantic salmon. 
It is due to the black bass to say that it still holds a 
high place in the hearts of thousands of Pennsylvania 
anglers, and even the devotees of trout admire its mag- 
nificent game qualities: but there are signs that it has 
'.nearly reached the zenith of its popularity, and that 
sentiment will veer to some native fish. Once more the 
chub is rising in favor. 
The bass is loved perhaps because of its vagaries; 
because one day it will take minnows and the next day 
refuse anything but helgramites; the day after demand 
nothing but frogs, and perhaps the day after scorn 
everything but stone catfish. Perhaps the succeeding 
day rise to nothing but the artificial fly, and then again 
possibly make all the clianges of foods in a single day. 
Very few men dare to say they know all about the 
black bass, and the few who did are often jeered at. 
Indeed the majority of anglers rather plume themselves 
of their lack of knowledge of the habits and require- 
ments of the fish. , .J 
Everything went well with the fish and the angler 
until the year 1900, and then complaints were heard, 
first from the Delaware, then from the Susquehanna 
that there was a decrease in the catch of bass, and the 
wail — for wail it was — increased in volume and extent 
with each succeeding year until it spread to the fisher- 
men in nearly all the waters in Pennsylvania. There 
were some streams by 1904 which previously had 
yielded heavy catches that gave up scarcely a fish to an 
angler in a week. Naturally everybody wanted to 
know why, and every one began to reason out a cause. 
At last many of them found the Jonah, as they believed, 
and the Jonah was the German carp. People had always 
hated and despised the German carp, and with reason, 
as an inferior and nearly worthless food fish without 
any game qualities. 
Consequently, it is not surprising that when the 
German carp was suggested as the fish which was 
causing a rapid decrease in the number of bass, nearly 
everybody, including the Commissioner of Fisheries, 
concluded that they had the oft'ender. It was asserted 
and believed that carp destroyed the spawn of the bass; 
that they destroyed the water plants which contained 
minute life necessary to the existence of the young fish, 
the shelter which the plants afforded the little creatures 
from being devoured by other fish. 
But this spring the anglers and the Commissioner of 
Fisheries received a shock. The bass reappeared in 
great numbers in nearly all the waters of the Common- 
wealth in which they had previously been. There were 
little fish, medium size, and some large fish. The 
catches were nearly equal to those of ten years ago. A 
curious feature was that in many of the streams in 
which the catches were most abundant, the carp were 
still plentiful. Notably the Susquehanna River. 
In some streams young bass were said to outnumber 
minnows. Hence it was concluded that while the 
German carp may have been a factor in the decrease 
«>f the number of bass in the streams, it was not the . 
chief factor. Something else evidently caused their 
temporary disappearance., and with the removal of that 
something they have reappeared once more, and the 
lilack bass has emphasized' its right to the title of 
"mysterious fish.” 
It is a well-known fact with the great majority of 
fishermen, the higher the character of the surrounding 
scenery the greater zest there' is given to the general 
•art of angling. Hence, those who' fish for black' bass 
in Pennsylvania waters are favored beyond those who 
angle in most of the States. The 'greate-st rivers and 
their largest tributaries flow' tortuously through tnoup- 
tain ranges. From the center to the west are the huge 
crests of the Alleghenies. From the northeast to the 
southwest in the eastern part of the Blue Ridge and 
South Mountains, with their royal spurs, some of which, 
like the 'Welch Hills, extend into the southeastern part 
of Pennsylvania. 
None of these waters have great depths, excepting in 
occasional spots in the Susquehanna. As a rule, they 
rush and tumble over rocky beds, froth in shallow 
places over rocks and boulders, and spring into quiet, 
dark pools for rest, making long streaks of eddies or 
swifts in which the bass and wall-eyed pike congregate. 
Because of the diversified character of the water in 
Pennsylvania rivers and large creeks, there are prob- 
ably few States which can show, within a given space, 
so many methods of bass fishing. "While thousands sit 
quietly on the bank or in an anchored boat waiting 
patiently for the bite, which comes or not, as the case 
maj^ be, there are thousands who hunt for bass on their 
favorite stream as the hunter hunts for a rabbit or a 
bird. Such men will sometimes cover five or six miles 
of water in a day with a boat, or wade two or three. 
It is the hunter of the black bass who secures the 
greatest enjoyment from his day’s outing, and who 
generally has the best basket when the sun has gone 
down. 
The bass is the people’s fish more than any other 
game fish. He stands among fish for the fishermen 
as baseball does among' field athletic sports. As he is 
the people’s fish, so all sorts and conditions of lines and 
baits are used to lure him from his watery home. There 
is a regular gradation, from the fine enameled or 
braided silk line to the common cotton cord, generally 
called the "clothes line.” Fine drawn gut, the best silk 
gut, twisted double gut, all are used. Hooks, from 
No. 2 to 3 and 4-0, from the plebian ringed hook, three 
for 5 cents, to the beautifully snelled, highest grade 
hooks made. Cheap flies and expensive flies, cheap 
machine rods and ihe most expensive hand-made arti- 
cle, cane angles and a pole cut from the woods; even 
hand-lines are not disdained by some, and so there are 
artificial baits of all kinds and descriptions, deadly and 
otherwise. 
The still-fishing, bait-casting, skittering, drifting, 
trolling, both with artificial, live and dead bait, float- 
fishing, bottom fishing, spinning the swifts, and fly- 
casting — all of them may be found sometimes within 
five or six miles on any given river. 
It is noteworthy, nevertheless, that as the rivers are 
of different characters, so a certain form of fishing is 
apt to predominate in these particular streams. Float 
fishing is not as often met with in the Susquehanna as 
bottom fishing and spinning a swift, while float fishing 
is the method usually pursued in the Delaware. Of 
the methods used in the Susquehanna, spinning an eddy 
is the most exciting and pleasurable and more apt to 
give best results. It should be said, here that on the 
Susquehanna River and its branches, there are hun- 
dreds and hundreds of men whose chief means of liveli- 
hood are to row' or pole a boat for an angler and sell 
him bait. 
The boats used on the Susquehanna for bass fishing 
are very long and very narrow, with square ends. 
They are just wide enough for one man to sit in com- 
fortably. These boats are poled with wonderful skill 
among the dangerous rocks and up or down raging 
rifts. Seeking the head of a swift, the bow or one end 
of the boat is thrust upon a rock in back water, and 
so held steady and firm while the angler fishes. 
The angler baits his hook with, we will say, a stone 
catfish, and the line, without any float or sinker what- 
ever, is cast overboard into the swift flowing water. 
The line is then drawn from the reel, five or six inches 
at a time, and in that manner the bait is allowed to 
float down perhaps for a distance of fifty or seventy- 
five feet, or to the end of the swift, when, if there has 
been no strike, the line is slowly reeled in. Before each 
take, the rod is raised suddenly till in an upright posi- 
tion, then lowered quickly, and the slack is then quickly 
taken up by the reel. "When the bait is drawn to the 
boat side, it is cast a little to the right or the left, and 
the paying out of the line is done over again; and this 
is repeated time and time again, until every foot of 
vvater embraced in the swift and for two or three feet on 
each side has been thoroughly fished. The angler then 
takes in his line, the boatman draws his craft from the 
rock and drops dotvn to the next swift, and so the 
fishing goes on all day. 
If while the line is being paid out the angler notices 
or feels a slight twitch, he knows a bass is at work, 
but he does not strike. He draws from his reel per- 
haps two or three feet of line, and as the bass lightly 
pulls, he allows, the line to slip through his fingers and 
then gives more, and so perhaps until twenty-five or 
thirty feet has thus been paid out. Then comes a sud- 
den rush, a tremendous strike on the tip of the rod, 
' followed b}' a leaping bass. 
It is idle to describe the contest which ensues. It is 
seldom that two arc exactly alike. Every fisherman 
"who has tried to catch black bass knows how it feels 
much better than any writer can describe it. Every 
.angler kmaws that he is in an agony from the first leap 
until the fish is in his net lest the bass should tear him- 
self loose, cut the line on a rock or smash his rod when 
the butt is given. 
Drifting in the Delaware with a float line is con- 
ducted almost exactly the same as spinning the swift, 
excepting that, the water being deeper and the fall less, 
the streaks through the pools run more slowly, and 
.there a sinker is used to keep the bait well beneath the 
'surface. 
A good catch of bass in Pennsylvania waters is 
twenty-fire, Thf, usual weight is. from a pound to q 
pound and a half. When a six-pounder is landed Jhd 
fact gets info the newspapers, and the lucky man hadle,dl 
by his companions, the editors, as a great angler. 
/ W. E. Meehan.. , 
Fish at $70 a Pound. 
“Yes, sir. Had a great time,” said the returned 
fisherman, wdping his blistered brow, “and I brought 
back with me two of the most expensive fish I ever 
handled.” 
“Here’s an honest fisherman,” burst from the crowd 
in the office. “He acknowledges that he bought his 
fish.” 
“Well, not exactly that,” the fisherman returned, “for 
these fish were thrust upon me. They cost me oyer 
$70 a pound, and I guess they were cheap at the price. 
At any rate, I felt cheap when I paid it.” 
“Come now, old man, don’t dispel our illusion. Here 
we have granted that you are an honest fisherman — 
the first we have ever seen — and instead of telling us; 
the old yarn you start in on a new one that is just as; 
bad. Seventy dollars a pound for fish!” And there 
was no mistaking the look of disgust'that accompanied 
the remark. 
“Friends,” the fisherman expostulated, “give me leave 
to tell my fish story. ’Trs not so long as a railroad 
ticket nor so deep as an editorial, but ’tis tough. A 
plague o’ both your fish, say I.” He paused in Shake- 
sperian fashion for a reply; but there was none. 
“The first thing you learn when you go fishing oni 
the Gunnison River out in Colorado is that you must 
not keep any fish you catch that is under seven inches; 
in length. , The game warden will get you if you don’t 
watch out. And as I was catching from seventy-five 
to a hundred fish a day of particularly enormous size, I 
threw back the little ones without compunction. The; 
fights I had with some of those 40-pound trout ” 
Of course he was interrupted here, but luckily was; 
not assaulted. 
“Well, any way,” he continued, after taking his arm 
down from shielding his face against threatened blows, 
“I caught a lot of fish. I also made the acquaintance 
of two very nice young ladies who were stopping at 
the same so-called hotel. They fished, too, and I don’t 
think they were as particular of the game as the rest 
of us were, for they seemed to slide their catch past 
the game warden without examination. I told them a 
lot of funny stories and sang some snatches from comic 
operas as the moon was disappearing over the mo, un- 
tains, and did all those agreeable little things that you 
can do, don’t you know, and I really believe they were 
quite cut up when I announced I was going to leave 
for home. 
“The last day I saved only about forty pounds of the 
fish I caught, arid as I took the train that evening I 
carried the basket with me, preferring to keep my eye 
on it instead of checking it through. I can see those 
girls now waving their good-bye from the little platform 
of a station. 
“When the train reached a small town near the 
boundary of the State some game wardens got on, and 
seeing my basket, declared their intention of looking 
over my catch. I willingly agreed and they lost no 
time in tumbling my fish about until they discovered 
near the bottom two tiny fish that were quite under 
seven inches in length and probably weighed less than 
a pound together. . 
“ Why, I wonder where those little ones came from,’ 
said I. And I was genuinely surprised. 
“‘You’ll have to get off here,’ the game warden said. 
I protested that the fish were not mine, they they were 
perfectly welcome to them, and in the meantime I 
thought the whole thing over and could reach only 
one conclusion — those girls had played a little joke on 
me by putting those little fish in my basket. I told that 
to the wardens and they laughingly gave me the credit 
for having invented a new excuse for having prohibited 
fish in my possession. 
“‘You better tell that to the judge,’ they suggested 
as we walked up the street, and I did when we reached 
the courtroom. But the judge only smiled and read 
enough of the law to fine me $50. that was $25 each for 
the little fish, and the costs made my bill come to $70. 
You see the State gives the game warden a good share 
of the fine for his trouble, and, so there will be a 
little left for the State, they hit you pretty hard. They 
also took my whole basket of fish, saying the law would 
not permit me to take them out of the State. 
“ ‘Gosh, judge,’ I said, ‘can’t you let me have the 
fish? I’ve paid a good price for them. It seems to me 
you ought to let me take them along.’ 
“He thought for a little while and then he said: 
‘Well, you can have the two little ones. I guess the 
law will be satisfied in these larger ones here.’ 
“So I brought home the two little $70 fish.” 
“Did you ever hear anything from the young 
women?” asked the stenographer. 
“Not directly,” the fisherman returned sadly, “but 
after I had described them to a man on the train leaving 
Denver, he told me that he thought they were the 
daughters of a game warden he knew.”- — Kansas City 
Star. 1 
Fishy. 
Mother (reproachfully, to her small son) : “Jamie, 
where have you been all afternoon?” Jamie uneasily — 
“At Sunday school, mamma.” Mother — “Then how is 
it you are wet and smell so of fish?” Jamie (in despera- 
tion)- — “Well, you see. I’ve been studying about Jonah, 
; and the whale, and — well — I guess it came off on my 
"fjotbqs.”— Harper’s- Weekly. . 
