The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-30
BASS ARB ALWAYS FIGHTERS
BUT TIE GAKLEST ARE FOUND
IN THIS CONTINENT.


"reminiscences Of the Man VINO Hal Hshed
I'm All Quarters Of the WOFId-A FlSh
In India That WIN Attack Man-SOmo
Heavy Scrappers In South Australia.
LAcH1NK, Canada, june al am not
At all afraid OF being successfully con-
tradicted whom / gay that pound for pound
no hsh that sWims has more pluck, en-
durance and agility than these Same black
bass The speaker had hshed for mahseer
In India, for tuna in the Gulf Of California.
for salmon In Norway and for trout over
half the world. He had heard Of the black
bass Of North America as a coarse heavy
fighter, a near relative OF the European
perch and as being essentially a bait fisher
mans fish. Even on this sid he had been
assured by good authorities that there was
not much sense In casting for bass. There
are still to be found anglers OF experience
who lave not yet discovered h a the bass
IL a surface feeder we'll worth the attention
Of the fly fisher.
Il remember playing one Of the anadro-
nous perch Of the Gauges for a good fifteen
minutes one scorching hot day. went on
the traveller. Fl was a big fellow, really
q king Of a bass. fully four feet long, lusty
and strong, being just up from the sea-
It was a great fight, for the tackle was light.
the rod only q pound in weight.
There Was e~xtraneous excitement, too.
A number Of bathers Of both sexes were
in the water just where I was playing my
fish, attracted, l expect, by the unusual
and probably unwelcome spectacle OF q
European fishing il their sacred river.
1t was an awkward business for me. The
fish did not appear to mind the bathers a
bit. Once or twice he twisted my line
around them and ! came near to having q
smash.
But his fighting was all down under
water. 1t was just an aimless. heavy kind
of q darting about, with an occasional
savage jerk. When he came to the top 1t
was to make submission, and confession Of
defeat. not TO fight.
sThe nearest thing to these bass as a
fighter which ! know Of is the Murray
River cod, something like a bass. and a
member OF the same family. You find him
But there is not much fun about that fish
ing, as you have TO bait heavily with raw
meat and use a kind Of a two hand salmon
rod Of the heaviest make. A fish OF rs
pounds will put up quite a pretty hght
it is not the quick, fierce scrambling sort
of a fight that we had with our six pound
fellow to-day"
The fish referred to had taken thirty
minutes to fight and then, being touched
with the rim Of the net, went of and with
renewed vigor fought for twenty minutes
more. Fully q third OF the time had been
spent on top of the water. leaping. swirling
around or lashing out with tail and fms.
There wac absolutely no kick left in him
when at last he was hauled alongside,
Il got a fine specimen Of a kind Of black
bass in the Malay Archipelago, 1t
weighed twelve pounds and fought well on
top 81 the T hndr' YET YET S1sn n0he S Sd 1nS senSe
ing Of your fish. But he really never fought
out his game, for as is the cu:tom there
my attendant dived under the fish when he
was in one Of his fiurries and corning up
from below claspeo him with one hand
and stuck his tail beneath his teeth. 1t
was effective retrieving, but a very little OF
1t was enough for me
"one thing. I noticed to-day. which
fishes of this family in other lands. Is their
habit of following the flies along the top
Of the water for a considerable distance
before taking them. Several times 1
watched quite a procession of the bass
swimming along behind the cast. with eyes
fixed eagerly upon the flies, until one Of
them rushed forward and caught on.
You do not catch the trout at that kind
Of a~nticipatory following after. From
somewhere down below the spotted fell
lONb lblkLt vi LLAS ~ % LAAN Wv nav
made up. rush to the top and suck them in
without de~liberation. 1t bespeaks a differ
ence in the mentality OF the two types, l
suppose. The sea bass Of the Pacific coral
islands. great fellows Running into the
hundredw eighte. will follow on for some
times hours at a time before they rush at
and fight for the bait.
at was there ! first noticed the chameleon
like habit OF the lass in changing mis- skin
coloring to suit his environment. IL You
examine the string we made up to-day
you will find some Of them Of a bright green
with light yellow underneath. Those are
the fish we got in tie blue waters. on the
sandy shadows. The dark black ones
with the muddy colored sides We took over
the dark looking weedy places.
"In the South Pacific I have caught bass
almost pink on the belly. where the pink
coral abounds. Near by, where the pre-
backs of emerald green. shading to silvery
white. Why they should have this curious
faculty IL is hard to say, since nature has
armed them with powerful muscles, a
strong jaw, and given them ample pro-
lection against predatory foes.
1T may be that the bass are intended
to prey upon fish swifter in the water thai
they are, such as the trout and the white
fish, 30 that partial iuvisibility Is necessary
70 them, though somehow wherever
have met with them the bass never seemed
TO me to be sneaking things which got
their living by fraud"
The writer remarked upon the bold~
ness Of our black bass in the ~springtime,
when the old males are guarding their
young II c fish spear is thrust into the
water near 10 them they will actually seize
the prongs and violently wrench it with
quite surprising strength. One would
hardly expect. such pugnacity and crafty
lying in wait for prey in the same fish.
Did you ever hear OF bass attacking
menu the other asked. There is a fish
commonly found about Alden which makes
serious attacks upon bathers. 1t is a true
bass of a dark color, with ugly teeth and
spiny fins, and the British soldiers quartered
there are regularly warned TO look out
rnr ) asth Ind iney are cute nereG IN tSe,r
battle when they appear among the
swimmers In the surf. Even trained SOL
diers beat a retreat when a drove Of them
puts in al appearance.
I'm fact bass are always fighters, wher-
ever you find them: and / believe that
the gamiest OF the whole lot and the f~airest
fighter is the six pound black fellow OF
North American inland waters