And then to an appreciative audience he relates, in a graphic manner,
how this one seized a minnow, and that one a crawfish, and the other
one a hellgramite--and how often each one leaped from the water, and
how high it jumped--and how the "ellum" rod bent and twisted as the
large one tried to regain the hole under the big rock--and how the good
line cut the water in curving reaches and straight lines as another one
forged toward the sunken roots of the old sycamore. And then came the
climax, as, with pride and regret struggling for mastery, and "suiting
the action to the word and the word to the action," he tells again the
old, old story of how the biggest of all, a regular "snolligoster,"
shook out the hook and got away!
In the years to come, will that lad exult over the capture of a mighty
tuna or giant tarpon with as much genuine joy and enthusiasm as over
that string of bass? Well, hardly. And as the boy is father to the man,
and as we are all but children of larger growth, the black-bass angler
never outlives that love and enthusiasm of his younger days--younger
only as reckoned by the lapse of years.
[Sidenote: In Olden Time]
Although the black bass, as a game fish, has come into his own only
during the last two or three decades, black-bass fishing is older than
the Federal Union. The quaint old naturalist, William Bartram, the
"grandfather of American ornithology," in 1764, described, minutely,
"bobbing" for black bass in Florida, there, as in all the Southern
States, called "trout"--a name bestowed by the English colonists owing
to its gameness. While black-bass fishing is comparatively a recent
sport in the Eastern States, it was practiced in Kentucky, Tennessee and
southern Ohio before the end of the eighteenth century. In 1805 George
Snyder, the inventor of the Kentucky reel, was president of the Bourbon
County Angling Club at Paris, Kentucky. Fly-fishing was practiced as
early as 1840 on the Elkhorn and Kentucky rivers by Mr. J. L. Sage and
others. His click reel, made by himself, is now in my possession; and
George Snyder's own reel, made in 1810, a small brass multiplying reel
running on garnet jewels, is still in the possession of his grandson at
Louisville.
[Sidenote: Appearance and Habits]
The black bass is now an acknowledged peer among game fishes, and taking
him by and large excels them all, weight for weight. The generic term
black bass, as here used, includes both the large-mouth bass and the
small-mouth bass. The two species are as much alike as two peas in a
pod, the most striking difference between them being that one has a
larger mouth and larger scales than the other. When subject to the same
conditions and environment, they are equal in game qualities. The habits
of the two species are similar, though the large-mouth bass is more at
home in ponds and weedy waters than the small-mouth bass, which prefers
running streams and clear lakes. Their natural food is crawfish, for
which their wide mouths and brush-like teeth are well adapted, though
they do not object to an occasional minnow or small frog.
[Sidenote: Now and Then]
Owing to the wide distribution of black bass, fishing for it is
universal. It is no less enjoyed by the rustic youth with peeled sapling
rod and crawfish bait than by the artistic angler with slender wand and
fairy-like flies. While black-bass fishing was known and practiced in
the Ohio Valley from the earliest years of the nineteenth century, as
just stated, our angling books for three-fourths of the century
contained but little, if anything, about the black bass, as they were
mostly compilations from English authors. The only exception were the
books of Robert B. Roosevelt, an uncle of the President, who fished for
black bass in Canada about 1860. At the present day there are more
articles of fishing tackle made especially for black bass than for all
other game fishes combined. This is proof that it is the most popular
and, all things considered, the best game fish of America.
[Sidenote: The Charm of Angling]
Salmon fishing, the grandest sport in the curriculum of angling, is now
an expensive luxury. There is but little free water readily accessible,
for all the best pools are in the possession of wealthy clubs. The bold
leap of the salmon, when hooked, the exciting play of the fish on the
rod, and the successful gaffing, are as so many stanzas of an epic poem.
Trout fishing is a summer idyl. The angler wades the merry stream while
the leaves whisper and rustle overhead, the birds chirp and sing, the
insects drone and hum, the cool breeze fans his cheek, as he casts his
feathery lures, hither and yon, in eager expectation of a rise.
[Illustration: Small Mouth Black Bass. (_Micropterus dolomieu._)]
Black-bass fishing combines, in a measure, the heroic potentialities of
salmon fishing with the charms of trout fishing. The leap of the bass
is no less exciting than that of the salmon, and is oftener repeated,
while in stream fishing the pastoral features of trout fishing are
experienced and enjoyed.
[Sidenote: The Leap of Fishes]
The leap of a hooked fish is always an exciting episode to the angler
with red blood in his veins--exciting because as an offset to its
probable capture there is the very possible contingency of its escape by
throwing out the hook, or by breaking away. So with each leap of the
bass the hopes and fears of the angler are constantly exercised, while
his pulses quicken and his enthusiasm is aroused. Game fishes often leap
a few inches above the surface in play, or to catch a low-flying insect;
but when hooked they vault to a height commensurate with their agility
and muscular ability. They do not leap so high, however, as is commonly
supposed.
[Sidenote: Vaulting Ambition]
A tarpon will leap six feet high, but the cero, or Florida kingfish,
will leap higher, for it is the greatest vaulter of them all. The
ladyfish executes a series of short, whirling leaps that puzzle the eye
to follow--it is the gamest fish for its size in salt water. The leap of
the flying-fish is sustained for a long distance by its wing-like
pectoral fins, on the principle of the aëroplane, though its sole motive
power is probably derived from its tail before leaving the water. The
salt-water mullet is an expert jumper, leaping often in play, but when
pursued by an enemy its leaps are higher and longer than would be
expected from its size. The brook trout, pike, and mascalonge seldom
leap when hooked, though the steelhead trout and grayling both leap
nearly as often as the black bass in their efforts to dislodge the hook.
The leap of the salmon is a long, graceful curve, as it heads up stream.
Once, while playing my first salmon, on the Restigouche, many years ago,
my taut line was leading straight down the stream, when I caught sight
of a salmon over my shoulder and above me, leaping from the surface,
which, to my surprise, proved to be my hooked fish--the line making a
long detour in the swift water.
[Sidenote: Leap of the Black Bass]
I have heard many anglers declare that a black bass could leap five feet
high, when as a matter of fact they leap but a few inches, usually, and
occasionally one, or at most three feet, though I think two feet nearer
the limit. By an examination of Mr. A. Radcliffe Dugmore's photograph,
reproduced herewith, it will readily be seen that the leaps are not very
high ones. A black bass is in the air but a second or two, and to catch
him in the act as Mr. Dugmore has done must be considered a wonderful
achievement. The picture shows the bass returning to the water, with
either the head or the shoulders at, or beneath, the surface, while the
displaced water at his point of emergence still shows plainly--standing
up, as it were. This proves that the bass regains the surface as soon as
the displaced water, or rather before the upheaved water finds its
level, which could not be the case were the leaps three or four feet
high.
[Sidenote: Why the Bass Leaps]
Why does a hooked bass leap from the water? This question is sometimes
raised, though the answer is plain. He leaps into the air to endeavor to
dislodge the hook; this he tries to do by violently shaking his body,
with widely extended jaws. He does not "shake his head," as is often
said, for having no flexible neck, his head can only be thrown from side
to side by the violent contortions of his body, often using the water as
a fulcrum, when he appears to be standing on his tail. A dog or a cat
will shake its head vigorously to eject some offending substance from
the mouth, and a bass does the same thing; but as he cannot shake his
body to the extent required beneath the surface, owing to the resistance
of the water, he leaps above it. And if he succeeds in throwing out the
hook he disappears beneath the surface and is seen no more; his object
in leaping has been accomplished.
Usually, it is only surface-feeding fishes that leap when hooked.
Bottom-feeding fishes bore toward the bottom or struggle in mid-water.
Every fish has its characteristic way of resisting capture, but any
fish is more easily subdued if kept on the surface by the skill of the
angler and the use of good and trustworthy tackle.
[Sidenote: Their Way with a Bait]
The manner of taking a bait also varies considerably with different
fishes; and the character of their teeth is a good guide to what they
feed on. For instance, the cunner and sheepshead are expert bait
stealers. With their incisor teeth their habit is to pinch off barnacles
and other mollusks from their attachment to rocks and old timbers, and
so they nip off the clam or crab bait from the hook with but little
disturbance. A trout takes a fly or bait with a vigorous snap, without
investigation as to its nature, and a black bass does much the same,
giving immediate and unmistakable notice to the angler that there is
"something doing."
[Sidenote: Breeding Habits]
The black bass is one of the few fishes that protects its eggs and
young. It forms its nest on gravelly or rocky shoals or shallows,
usually, but when such situations are not available, clay or mud bottom,
or the roots of aquatic plants are utilized, especially by the
large-mouth bass. During incubation the eggs are guarded and tended by
the parent fish, and hatch in ten days or two weeks, the fry remaining
on the nest, guarded by the male fish, for several days, when they
disperse to find suitable hiding places, feeding on minute organisms
that abound in all natural waters.
[Sidenote: Spawning Season]
The spawning season of the black bass varies considerably, owing to its
extensive range and consequent variation in the temperature of waters.
In Florida and the extreme South it is as early as March or April, in
the Middle West in May or June, and at the northern limit of its
distribution as late as July. Owing to this variation, laws to protect
the species during the breeding season must vary accordingly. As the
brooding fish are easily taken from their nests with snare, jig or
spear, the laws for their protection should be rigidly enforced,
otherwise a pond or small lake might soon be depleted where the poacher
is much in evidence.
[Sidenote: Size and Weight]
The large-mouth bass grows to a maximum weight of six to eight pounds in
Northern waters, where it hibernates, but in Florida and the Gulf
States, where it is active all the year, it grows much larger, in
Florida to twenty pounds in rare cases. The small-mouth bass has a
maximum weight of five or six pounds, though several have been recorded
of fully ten pounds, from a lake near Glens Falls, N. Y. As usual with
most other game fishes, the largest bass, as a rule, are taken with
bait. For instance, the heaviest I ever took in Florida on the
artificial fly weighed fourteen pounds, and with bait, twenty pounds. In
Northern waters the heaviest catch with the fly, of small-mouth bass,
seldom exceeds three pounds--usually from one to two pounds, and for
large-mouth bass a pound or two more, while with bait larger fish of
both species may be taken.
[Sidenote: Season for Fishing]
Owing to the variable conditions mentioned the season for black-bass
fishing varies likewise in different sections of the country. Thus, both
bait- and fly-fishing are practiced in Florida during winter. In the
Middle West--Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Missouri, etc.--bait-fishing is
available in the early spring, and fly-fishing as well as bait-fishing
in mid-summer and fall. In the Northern States and Canada both bait- and
fly-fishing are at their best during late summer and the fall months.
[Sidenote: Distribution]
The original habitats of the black bass, either of one or both species,
were the hydrographic basins of the St. Lawrence, Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers. Only the large-mouth existed in the seaboard streams of the
South Atlantic and Gulf States. By transplantation the black bass is now
a resident of every state in the Union. It will thrive in any water the
temperature of which runs up to sixty-five degrees or more in summer. It
is one of the best fishes to introduce to new waters where the proper
conditions exist, but should never, for obvious reasons, be planted in
the same waters with any species of trout.
[Sidenote: Increase in New Waters]
As instances of new waters in which its increase was rapid, the
Delaware, Susquehanna and Potomac Rivers may be mentioned. In 1854
thirty small-mouth bass, about six inches long, were taken from a creek
near Wheeling, W. Va., and placed in the Potomac near Cumberland, Md.
From this small plant the entire river above the Great Falls, and all
its tributaries, became well stocked, and has afforded fine fishing for
years.
[Sidenote: Commercial Fishing]
In former years the black bass was quite an important commercial fish in
the Middle West, but since the enactment of laws prohibiting seining and
net-fishing of streams it is not often seen in the markets, and then it
is mostly from private ponds. In the States of Washington and Utah,
however, where it was planted in some rather large lakes years ago, the
markets are pretty well supplied with this delicious fish, for, barring
the lake whitefish, it is the best food-fish of fresh waters. Owing to
the well known improvidence of market fishermen it would be well to
prohibit its sale entirely in all sections of the country when taken
from public waters.
[Sidenote: Propagation]
Owing to the desirability of the black bass for stocking waters, the
demand for both private and public streams and ponds is far in excess of
the supply. Undoubtedly the best plan for stocking is that of planting
adult fish, as already alluded to. But owing to the difficulty of
obtaining adult fish, the energies of fish culturists have for years
been directed to a solution of the question of supply. So far, however,
their efforts have been but partially successful.
[Sidenote: Character of Eggs]
The eggs of the salmon, trout, grayling, shad, whitefish, etc., can be
stripped from the fish, can be separated and manipulated as easily as so
much shot, and made to respond readily to fish-cultural methods. But the
eggs of the black bass are enveloped in a gelatinous mass that precludes
stripping, and their separation is extremely difficult, if not
impossible. Consequently any attempt at their incubation by the usual
hatchery methods would prove futile.
[Sidenote: Pond Culture]
The only feasible and successful plan is that of pond culture. Of this
there are several methods. One either allows the bass to proceed with
their parental cares in a natural manner; or early separates the parent
fish from the young fry, which are then fed and reared to the desired
age for planting. The United States Bureau of Fisheries and several of
the individual states pursue this plan, and supply the fry to applicants
free of charge.
[Sidenote: Millions Saved]
There are certain bayous and depressions along the Mississippi and
Illinois Rivers and other streams in that section which are overflowed
during high water. When the water recedes many black bass and other
fishes are left in the bayous, which would eventually perish upon the
drying up of the water. It is the practice of the National and several
state fish commissions to seine out the fish and transfer them to
suitable waters, or to applicants, free of expense. In this way many
waters are stocked and millions of fish saved that would otherwise
perish.
[Sidenote: Fly Fishing]
The black bass rises to the artificial fly as readily as the trout or
grayling, if fished for intelligently. The trout takes the fly at or
near the surface, while it should be allowed to sink a few inches at
nearly every cast for black bass, the same as for grayling. As to flies,
any of the hackles, brown, black or gray, are enticing to bass, and such
winged flies as Montreal, polka, professor, coachman, silver doctor and
a dozen others are very taking on most waters. The most important rules
for fly-fishing, or casting the minnow, are to cast a straight line,
keep it taut, and to strike on sight or touch of the fish; that is when
the swirl is seen near the fly, or when the fish is felt. Striking is
simply a slight turning of the rod hand while keeping the line very
taut. But more important than all other rules is to keep out of sight of
the fish. The flies should be lightly cast, and by slight tremulous
motions made to simulate the struggles of a live insect, and then
allowed to sink a few inches or a foot. From five o'clock in the
afternoon until dusk is usually the best time for fly-fishing.
[Sidenote: Bait Fishing]
The best natural bait is the minnow--a shiner, chub, or the young of
almost any fish, which is well adapted for either casting, trolling or
still-fishing. In waters where it abounds the crawfish is a good bait,
especially the shedders or soft craws, to be used only for
still-fishing. The hellgramite, the larva of the corydalis fly, in its
native waters, is also successful for still-fishing. A small frog is a
capital bait on weedy waters, where it is usually cast overhead with a
very short and stiff rod. Grasshoppers and crickets are sometimes
employed with a fly-rod in lieu of artificial flies, and with good
results. The salt-water shrimp, where it is available, near the coasts,
is also a good bait for still-fishing. Cut-bait is also sometimes
useful.
[Sidenote: Artificial Bait]
In the absence of natural bait a spoon or spinner, with a single
hook--and more than one should not be used by the humane angler--is well
adapted for casting or trolling. It should be remembered that all baits,
of whatever kind, should be kept in motion. A dead minnow answers as
well as a live one for casting or trolling, but should be alive for
still-fishing. With crawfish, worms, shrimps or hellgramites a float
should be employed to keep them from touching the bottom.
[Sidenote: Bait-Casting]
In casting the minnow it should be hooked through the lips, and reeled
in slowly after each cast to imitate the motions of a live one as much
as possible. A spoon or spinner should be reeled in much faster in order
to cause it to revolve freely. The most effective way of casting, either
with minnow or spoon, is by the underhand method; nearly as long, and
more delicate casts can be made as by the overhead cast with short,
stiff rod. The mechanics of fly- or bait-casting can hardly be expressed
in words or explained without diagrams or cuts. The best plan for
beginners is to accompany an old hand to the stream and witness the
practical demonstration of the art.
[Sidenote: Fishing Rods]
A trout fly-rod answers just as well for black bass, with a weight of
from five to eight ounces, according to the material and plan of
construction, and whether employed by an expert or a tyro. The rod for
minnow casting, or indeed for any method of bait-fishing, should be from
eight to eight and a half feet long and from seven to eight ounces in
weight, as larger fish are taken with bait. For casting the frog in
weedy waters a short, stiff rod of five or six feet is used by many. A
few words in reference to the origin of this short rod may not be amiss,
especially as I wish to make it a matter of record.
[Sidenote: The Short Bait-Casting Rod]
At the time of the Chicago Fair, in 1893, my old friend, James M. Clark,
a good angler, was superintendent of the fishing-tackle department of a
large sporting goods house in that city. He informed me that he had
devised a rod especially intended for casting a frog for black bass and
pike on certain weedy waters not far from Chicago.
The said rod was made by reducing the regular eight-and-one-fourth-foot
Henshall rod to six feet, and it soon became popular on the waters
mentioned, for by casting overhead, instead of underhand, more accurate
line shots could be made into the small open spaces. As the weedy
character of the waters rendered the proper playing of a bass difficult
or ineffectual, the short, stiff rod proved itself capable of rapidly
reeling in the fish, willy nilly. Of course the pleasure of playing a
fish in a workmanlike manner, as in open water, would be lost, to say
nothing of denying the fish a chance for its life by depriving it of a
fair field and no favor--the only sportsmanlike way.
[Sidenote: Casting Baits]
Eventually the short rod and overhead cast became popular at casting
tournaments, where it was also demonstrated that by reducing its length
to five and even four feet longer casts were possible. Unfortunately the
use of this very short and stiff rod was extended to practical fishing,
and with its use was evolved a number of casting baits that out-herod
anything yet produced in the way of objectionable artificial baits. They
are huge, clumsy creations of wood or metal, of an elliptical form or
otherwise, and bristle with from three to five triangles of cheap hooks;
they are painted in a fantastic manner, and most of them are also
equipped with wings or propellers.
[Sidenote: Twin Evils]
The extremely short tournament tool of five feet, called by courtesy a
rod, when employed in angling, and the cruel and murderous casting baits
with twelve to fifteen hooks, are, in my opinion, twin evils which
should be tabooed by every fair-minded and humane angler. So far as the
short rod itself is concerned, I have always commended its use for
tournament work, but I do not favor it for open-water fishing, for
reasons already given. This use of it is a matter for the consideration
of those who choose to employ it. For myself, I have always found the
eight-foot rod and horizontal, underhand cast equal to all emergencies
of fishing for black bass, pike and mascalonge. In overhead casting the
bait is started on its flight from a height of ten or twelve feet, and
necessarily makes quite a splash when it strikes the water. On the other
hand, with the horizontal cast the minnow is projected to the desired
spot with very little disturbance.
[Sidenote: Lines and Hooks]
The only line that fulfills all requirements for fly-fishing as to
weight and smoothness of finish is one of enameled, braided silk, either
level or tapered. For casting the minnow the smallest size of braided,
undressed silk is the only one to use with satisfaction. For trolling or
still-fishing a larger size may be employed, or a flax line of the
smallest caliber.
Among the many patterns of fishhooks the Sproat is the best and the
O'Shaughnessy next, as being strong, well-tempered and reliable, and of
practicable shape. The modern eyed-hooks, if of the best quality, can
be used for both bait-fishing and fly-tying. Sizes of hooks for
bait-fishing in Northern waters, Nos. 1 and 2; for Florida, Nos. 1-0
and 2-0; for artificial flies, Nos. 2 to 6.
[Sidenote: Leaders and Snells]
Leaders for fly-fishing and still-fishing should be four, or not more
than six, feet long, of good, sound and uniformly round silkworm gut. A
leader is not used in casting or trolling the minnow or spoon. Snells
should likewise be made of the best silkworm fiber, three to four inches
long for artificial flies, and not less than six inches for
bait-fishing. It is no advantage to stain or tint leaders or snells, as
they are more readily discerned by the fish than those of the natural
hyaline color; and the more transparent, the less they show in the
water.
[Sidenote: Fishing Reels]
And now as to reels. A light, single-action click reel is the best and
most appropriate for fly-fishing, and may be either all metal or hard
rubber and metal combined, the former being preferable. It can be
utilized for still-fishing also, where long casting is not practiced.
But for casting the minnow a multiplying reel of the finest quality is
required, and the thumb must be educated to exert just the right amount
of uniform pressure on the spool during the flight of the minnow, to
prevent its backlashing and the resultant overrunning and snarling of
the line. This can only be mastered by careful practice. As most fine
multipliers are fitted with an adjustable click, it can be utilized also
for fly-fishing, but it is rather heavy for the lightest fly-rods. While
an automatic reel answers very well for trout fishing on small streams,
its spring is too light to control the movements of a fish as large and
gamesome as the black bass.
[Illustration: Black Bass returning to water after leap.]
[Sidenote: Something More About Reels]
It may not be amiss, in this connection, to venture a few remarks on
reels in general. Elsewhere I have made the statement that the most
important office of a rod was in the management of the hooked fish, and
not in casting the fly or bait. _Per contra_, the chief function of the
multiplying reel is in casting the bait, and not in reeling in the fish.
The office and intention of the gearing of the multiplying reel is to
prolong and sustain the initial momentum of the cast, in order that the
bait may be projected to a greater distance than is possible with any
single-action reel. This is proven by the fact that there have been
several devices invented whereby the handle, wheel and pinion of the
reel are thrown out of gear to allow greater freedom to the revolving
spool in casting. The theory looked feasible enough, but actual practice
demonstrated that without the sustaining aid of the gears the momentum
was soon lost, with the result that the bait could not be cast so far.
All such devices have now been abandoned as utterly futile.
[Sidenote: The Reel in Use]
So far as the skillful management of a hooked fish is concerned, the
multiplying reel is no better than the single-action click reel. For
tarpon, tuna, and other very large fishes, where "pumping" is practiced
on the hooked fish, the largest multiplying reel is of advantage in
rapidly taking up the resultant slack line. And so far as "power" is
concerned, in reeling in the fish on a strain, the single-action reel
has the advantage, for the force applied to the crank acts directly on
the shaft of the spool, while in the multiplying reel much of the force
is lost by being distributed through the gears to the shaft.
[Sidenote: Position of Reel on Rod]
[Sidenote: The Reel on Top]
There is a tendency of late years, especially with the heavy rods for
tuna and tarpon fishing, and also with the very short rod used in
overhead casting for black bass, to place the reel on top with the
handle to the right. While that plan is, in most cases, a matter of
choice or habit, it is essentially wrong. Neither multiplying or click
reels were intended to be used in that position, and because some
anglers prefer to place them so is no argument that it is right.
[Sidenote: The Reel Underneath]
Placing the reel on the top of the rod, on a line with the guides, and
grasping the rod loosely where it balances, the reel naturally, and in
accordance with the law of gravitation, turns to the under side of the
rod. No muscular effort is required to keep it there, as is the case
where the reel is used on top, which with heavy reels is considerable.
The reel and guides being on the under side when playing a fish, the
strain is upon the guides, and is equally distributed along the entire
rod, while with the reel guides on top the strain is almost entirely on
the extreme tip of the rod, and the friction is much greater.
[Sidenote: The Right Way]
With the multiplying reel underneath and the handle to the right, the
rod is held at nearly its balancing point, with the rod hand partly over
the reel, with the index or middle finger, or both, just forward of the
reel, to guide the line on the spool in reeling. The click reel being
entirely behind the rod hand, and underneath, at the extreme butt, the
rod can be grasped at its balancing point by the left hand, and the line
reeled with the other.
[Sidenote: The Wrong Way]
Where the multiplying reel is placed on top, with the handle to the
right, and the thumb used for guiding the line on the spool, there is a
constant tendency of the reel to get to the under side, where it
properly belongs. To overcome this wabbling of the reel, and to insure
more steadiness, the butt of the rod is braced against the stomach by
the reel-on-top anglers--certainly a most ungraceful and unbecoming
thing to do with a light rod. With the tarpon or tuna rod, and with the
reel either on top or underneath, a socket for the rod butt becomes
necessary in playing a very heavy fish.
[Sidenote: Casting and Playing]
In casting from the reel with a light rod it is turned partly or
entirely on top, with the right thumb on the spool. When the cast is
made the rod is at once transferred to the left hand in the position for
reeling in the line, with the index finger pressing it against the rod.
The fish can be played with the left hand, leaving the right hand free
to reel when necessary. Or in case a fish is unusually heavy and its
resistance is great, the rod can be taken in the right hand, with the
thumb on the spool to control the giving of line. When the opportunity
occurs for reeling, the rod is again transferred to the left hand.
It is very much easier to use the reel underneath when one becomes
accustomed to it, and it has been used in this way for centuries by the
British angler. As the reel originated in England, it is to be presumed
that the manufacturers and anglers of that country know its proper
position on the rod.
[Sidenote: Trolling]
While fly-fishing and casting the minnow may be practiced wherever the
black bass is found, on stream or lake, there are other methods of
angling that depend somewhat on local conditions. Trolling with the
minnow or trolling-spoon is sometimes practiced on lakes, as in
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. There is no skill whatever required
for trolling with handline and spoon, as the bass hooks himself, when
hooked at all, and is simply dragged into the boat without ceremony. It
is a method of fishing that would better be "honored in the breach, than
the observance." And as the rod generally used for trolling is rather
stiff and heavy, it does not require the skill and cleverness to play
and land the fish that are demanded by the light and pliable rods
employed in casting the fly or minnow.
[Sidenote: Other Methods]
Skittering with a pork-rind bait is practiced on some Eastern ponds, and
casting the frog overhead with a very short rod is a method that
originated with some Chicago anglers. Fishing with one or a group of
hooks dressed with a portion of a deer's tail and a strip of red
flannel, forming a kind of tassel and known as a "bob," is practiced in
the Gulf States. A very long cane rod and a very short line comprise the
rest of the equipment. The bob is danced on the surface in front of the
boat in the weedy bayous, and is certainly effective in catching bass.
[Sidenote: Still-Fishing]
[Sidenote: Ad Infinitum]
Still-fishing from the bank or a boat may be practiced wherever bass are
found. Any kind of rod is used, from a sapling to a split-bamboo, with
almost any kind of line or hook, and natural bait of any kind may be
employed, with or without a float. It is the primitive style of angling.
I think the paradise of the still-fisher may be found on a Florida lake.
Anchoring his boat near the shore, just outside of the fringe of
pond-lilies and bonnets, he splits the stem of a water lily, takes from
it a small worm that harbors there, impales it on his hook, and casts it
in a bight amid the rank growth of vegetation, where it is soon taken by
a minnow of some sort, which in turn is cast into the deeper water
beyond the border of aquatic plants, on the other side of the boat,
where a big bass is lying in wait for just such an opportunity. And so
he proceeds, _ad infinitum_, casting on one side of the boat for his
bait, and on the other side for his bass. "First the blade, then the
ear, after that the full corn in the ear."