Bass, Pike, Perch, and OthersHenshall, James A. (James Alexander)
Science
Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others
Henshall, James A. (James Alexander)
Fishes; Fishing
casting the fly as for salmon or trout, and this is by far the most
sportsmanlike way, but the most destructive and usually resorted to is
trolling." The only personal experience he gives of black-bass fishing,
unfortunately, is by trolling with large flies. In his "Game Fish of the
North," 1862, he devotes five pages to the black-bass, but apparently
does not discriminate between the two species. In "Superior Fishing,"
1865, he devotes two pages to the black-bass of Canada and the Great
Lakes, in a general way, but gives two instances of fishing as follows,
"Pedro soon hooked a splendid black-bass, and landed him after a
vigorous struggle of half an hour; he weighed three pounds and
three-quarters, and was thoroughly game." And again, "That evening was
again devoted to the black-bass, which took both the fly and spoon
greedily."
During the period covered by the authors named, from 1849 to 1869, the
anglers of the South and Middle West were using light cane rods,
Kentucky reels, and the smallest sea-grass lines for bait-fishing, and
trout fly-rods and trout-tackle for fly-fishing, rods and tackle as
light, to say the least, as those in use to-day.
In 1866 I removed to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where there were thirty
lakes within ten miles abounding in black-bass of both species, with
pike, rock-bass, crappies, perch, etc. On my home grounds was a large
shallow pond fed from Fowler Lake. Becoming much interested in the
black-bass, and finding but little information available in the books of
that day concerning their habits, I determined to give some study to the
subject. Accordingly I cut a ditch from the pond to the lake, with
suitable screens, and stocked it with black-bass of both species. During
their spawning period in the summer I watched them faithfully and
constantly from a blind of bushes on the bank. This I did for several
years, turning the adult bass into the lake when the fry were large
enough to look out for themselves, and turning the fry out also in the
fall.
I extended my observations of the bass during their breeding season to
the many lakes near by. I found a difference of several weeks in the
time of their spawning in these lakes, owing to the difference in
temperature, caused by their varying depth. The appearance of the bass
also differed slightly in the various lakes, so that it was possible,
from a close study of their variations in color, size, and contour, to
determine in what particular lake any string of bass was taken.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account