THE STRIPED BASSE. 
167 
bait, excepting in fresh water streams. The shrimp ie a 
much pleasanter and cleaner bait, and is very generally found 
to be successful in the early spring fishing, and continues so 
imtil crabs commence shedding their coats freely. In the 
latter part of Juno, the bass prefer the soft or shedder crab, 
though the shrimp continues to be used with succoss, until 
near the first of August, when the crab is decidedly the best 
of all baits that can be used. The mode of angling conse- 
quently varies at this time. While using the shrimp, the an 
gler is generally most successful, by using the float, and sus- 
pending his hook from mid-water to within a foot of the bot- 
tom, excepting where the water is quite shallow, when it 
should hang just so as to clear the bottom, as in water of 
little depth the fish look for their prey near the bottom. But 
when crab bait is used, the best mode of fishing is for the 
bait to lie on tlio bottom ; a sliding sinker is then the best, 
always as light as the tide or current will allow. The largest 
fish are generally taken by thus fishing at the bottom, with- 
out a float ; and the reason for dispensing with the float is ob- 
vious, if we will look at the habits of the fish. In angling 
with shrimp, the bait should be suspended as above stated, 
becauso the shrimp, by the action of the current, are fre- 
quently swept from the edges of the channel, or driven out 
by cels, or other enemies, and the bass look for them accord- 
ingly ; when feeding on the crab, however, these fish search 
along the bottom to find the crab in his helpless and defence- 
less stute, and swim witli their bodies at an angle, with the 
head downward, examining the bottom, where experience 
teaches them to find their prey ; thus a crab bait suspended 
by a flout at midwater would usually escape their observa- 
tion, and the angler unacquainted with these facts would 
mourn over his want of success without being able to ac- 
count for it. In the latter part of September, the shrimp 
again begin to come into use, and iu October, these, with the 
