bass sent to Lacepede, under the local 
name of trout, or trout-perch, who, ac¬ 
cordingly named it ‘salmoides’, mean¬ 
ing trout-like, or salmon-like.” 
“How do you account for the ridicu¬ 
lous practice of applying such names 
as trout and salmon to a spiny-finned 
fish of the order of perches?” asked 
Ignatius. 
“They were first given, I think, by 
the early English settlers of Virginia 
and the Carolinas, who, finding the 
bass a game fish of high degree, nat¬ 
urally gave it the names of those game 
fishes par excellence of England, when 
they found neither the salmon nor the 
trout inhabited southern waters. In 
the same way the misnomers of quail, 
partridge, pheasant, and rabbit have 
been applied, there being no true spe¬ 
cies of any of these indigenous to 
America.” 
“Then, I should say the 
names are a virtual acknowl¬ 
edgment that they considered 
the black bass the peer of 
either the trout or salmon as 
a game fish,” said Ignatius. 
“As an old salmon and trout 
fisher,” replied the Professor, 
“I consider the black bass, all 
things being equal, the gamiest 
fish that swims. Of course, 
I mean as compared to fish 
of equal weight, and when 
fished for with the same 
tackle, for it would be folly 
to compare a three-pound bass 
to a twenty-pound salmon.” 
“The long list of local names 
applied to the black bass,” re¬ 
sumed the Professor, “is ow¬ 
ing chiefly to its remarkably 
wide geographical range; for 
while it is peculiarly an Amer¬ 
ican fish, the original habitat 
of one or other of its forms 
embraces the hydrographic basins of 
the great lakes, the St. Lawrence, Mis¬ 
sissippi, and Rio Grande rivers, and 
the entire water-shed of the South At¬ 
lantic States from Virginia to Florida; 
or, in other words, portions of Canada 
and Mexico, and the whole United 
States east of the Rocky Mountains, 
except New England and the seaboard 
of the Middle States. Of late years, 
it has been introduced into these lat¬ 
ter states, into the Pacific slope, Eng¬ 
land, and Germany.” 
Reaching the summit of a hill after 
a long but gentle ascent, the river was 
disclosed to the view of the expectant 
anglers. At the foot of the descent 
was an old covered bridge which 
spanned a somewhat narrow but beau¬ 
tiful stream, winding in graceful curves 
among green hills and broad meadows. 
The ripples, or “riffles,” sparkled and 
flashed as they reflected the rays of 
the bright morning sun, while the blue 
and white and gray of the sky and 
clouds were revealed in the still reaches 
and quiet pools as in a mirror. Driv¬ 
ing through the time-worn and old- 
fashioned bridge with its quaint echoes, 
our friends left the turnpike and pro¬ 
ceeded down a narrow road, following 
the course of the river to a small grove 
of gigantic elms, beeches, and syca¬ 
mores, where a merry little creek min¬ 
gled its limpid waters with the larger, 
but more pellucid, stream. 
While Luke unharnessed the horses 
and haltered them to the low limb of 
a beech, the Professor and Ignatius 
went up the creek, with the minnow- 
seine and bucket, and soon secured a 
supply of chubs and shiners for bait. 
The Professor then took from its ease 
and put together a willowy and well- 
SMALL-MOUTH BLACK BASS 
made split bamboo fly-rod, eleven feet 
long, and weighing just eight ounces. 
Adjusting a light, German-silver click 
reel, holding thirty yards, of water¬ 
proofed and polished fly line of braided 
silk, to the reel-seat at the extreme butt 
of the rod, he drove the line through 
the guide-rings, and made fast to it a 
silkworm gutleader six feet in length, 
to the end of which he looped, for a 
stretcher or tail fly, what is known, 
technically, as the “polka,” with scarlet 
body, red hackle, brown and white tail, 
and wings of the spotted feathers of 
the guinea-fowl; three feet above this, 
he looped on for dropper or bob fly, 
a “Lord Baltimore,” with jungle-cock, 
both very killing flies, and a cast ad¬ 
mirably suited to the state of the wa¬ 
ter and atmosphere. 
Meanwhile, Ignatius, who was a bait- 
fisher, jointed up an ash and lance- 
wood rod of the same weight as the 
Professor’s, but only eight and a quar¬ 
ter feet in length, and withal some¬ 
what stiffer and more springy. He 
then affixed a fine multiplying reel, 
holding fifty yards of the smallest 
braided silk line, to which, after reev¬ 
ing through the rod-guides, he attached 
a sproat hook, No. 1V 2 , with a gut snell 
eight inches long, but without swivel 
or sinker, for he intended fishing the 
“riffles,” which is surface fishing prin¬ 
cipally. 
Slinging their creels and landing- 
nets, they were about to depart, when 
Luke spoke up: 
“Mars’ Nash, will you please, sah, 
gib me one ob dem sproach hooks I 
heerd you all talkin’ ’bout las’ night; 
mebbe so I’ll hang a big chan’l cat 
w’ile you’re gone.” 
Ignatius, who was fastening the 
strap of a small, oblong, four- 
quart minnow-bucket to his 
belt, gave him several large¬ 
sized sproat hooks, saying: 
“There, Luke, you will not 
fail to hook him with one of 
these, and the Professor will 
guarantee it to hold any fish 
in the river.” 
“Right,” affirmed he; “the 
sproat is the hook behind com¬ 
pare, the ne plus ultra, the 
perfection of fish-hooks in 
shank, bend, barb and point.” 
While the Professor and Ig¬ 
natius proceeded down the 
river, Luke rigged up a stout 
line the length of his big cane 
pole, a large red and green 
float, a heavy sinker, and one 
of the No. 3-0 sproat hooks. 
He then turned over the stones 
in the creek until he obtained 
a dozen large craw-fish, which 
were about to shed their outer 
cases, or shells, and which for 
this reason are called “shedders,” or 
“peelers.” 
“Now, den,” said he, “we’ll see who’ll 
ketch de mos’ fish. Umph! I wunder 
wat de ’Fessor do if he hang a big 
chan’l cat wit dat little pole!” 
He then baited his hook with a “soft 
craw,” seated himself on a log at the 
edge of a deep pool, or “cat-hole,” and 
began fishing. 
The Professor and Ignatius took 
their way down-stream a short distance 
to where a submerged ledge of rocks 
ran nearly across the river, some two 
feet below the surface and about ten 
feet in width. The line of rock was 
shelving, or hollow underneath on the 
up-river side, the water being some 
six feet deep just under and above it, 
but shoaling gradually up-stream. The 
ledge was surmounted on its low edge 
by a line of loose rocks which cropped 
up nearly to the stream, the bank was 
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