These fish are taken with the fly either cast as in trout fishing or trolled behind a boat and with spinning tackle. They are also caught with bait and show a preference for fresh water helgramite and crawfish and, for small living roach, dace and yellow perch. They are a voracious and predacious fish and will destroy any other kind that occupies any small waters with them, even the pickerel standing no chance against them. They are courageous as well, and never give up their lives till after they have made a good fight. As soon as they are hooked they throw themselves out of the water with a rush and endeavor to smash the line, and shake their heads fiercely in their attempts to dislodge the hook. When they jump out of the water it is well to drop the tip, as, if they succeed in flinging their broad sides on the line, they are apt either to snap it or tear out the hook. They must be handled carefully and cannot be landed immediately, and if they are of any considerable size will demand skillful play. They attain a weight of six to eight pounds, but the average is far less, hardly exceeding two. They are thoroughly a game fish and should be introduced into all waters adapted for them which are occupied by inferior fish.

There is scarcely any prettier sport than taking black bass by casting the fly. Trolling is far inferior in the enjoyment it gives the true angler, being a coarser and less artistic style of fishing. For very large fish the leader may be of salmon gut, but for ordinary fish, trout tackle will do. In trolling a number of flies of light colors, especially scarlet and white, are tied on the leader at short intervals with often a small trolling spoon for a stretcher. It should have a swivel at the top and a couple of shot lower down. This is trailed behind at some distance from the boat which is rowed rather slowly over the reefs and other places where the bass congregate. In the St Lawrence river among the Thousand Isles where a school of these fish is struck every fly will hook a fish and the fortunate spot may be crossed again and again with the same result. This is a good deal like pot fishing however, and the landing of so many fish at one time is annoying rather than pleasurable. As they fight against one another, success in getting them into the net is a question rather of strength of tackle than of skill in the fisherman.

In casting this is wholly different and everything depends on ability to use the rod and to manage the game. The flies are larger ordinarily than those for trout being about the size of such as are used in Maine or on Lake Superior, and are gaudy although on light days sombre colors are often the most successful. Otherwise there is no essential difference between fly fishing for black bass and for trout, except that it is well to fish a little more slowly. The rod is the same, the line the same, and there is the same necessity for dexterity in controlling the fly and the line. Black bass are not so beautiful nor delicate a fish, but they are more fierce and fully as courageous. They are rarely brought to the net till after they have leaped a half dozen times from the water, sometimes as high as three feet from its surface. The thrill of dread which this manoeuvre on their part arouses in the mind of the fisherman is never staled by repetition and there is no assurance of safety till the bass is fairly landed.