Brown in his "American Anglers Guide" (1849) went the limit in misinformation by stating that " the black bass has a swallow tail."
Dr. Bethune, the first American editor of Walton's " Angler," a bookish man and a good fisherman, had a better idea of the bass than any of his contemporaries. In one of his notes (1848) he says: ". . . it is impossible to refrain from a brief notice of that fish which is, next to the Salmon family, most prized by the American angler in fresh waters. Angling for him may be begun in June, when he is to be found in about 14 feet of water, among the grass. . . . Nothing can exceed the vigor and liveliness of his play; for he will try every art, even to flinging himself high out of the water, that he may shake off the hook; and the rod must not be kept perpendicular, but moved in various directions, and sometimes even partly submerged, to counteract his rushes, and hold him under the surface. . . . The bass takes the fly freely; a favorite fly being made on a stout hook (the fish's mouth is large) with wings of scarlet cloth and a body of white feather. Other colors have been tried though
