FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



reel, and tackle, than that which overcame us when, 

 with the pole cut and fashioned by the jack-knife, 

 heavy, stiff, hard to wield, the line a cheap affair, 

 the hooks durable, but not dainty, no reel at all, 

 a mass of squirming worms serving as bait, we 

 captured a very hungry fish, and successfully landed 

 him high on the bank behind us. 



To-day, in order to awaken this same thrilling 

 sensation, we must make the fight and capture as 

 difficult as possible. Our skill is pitted against the 

 strength, activity, and sharp tricks of the game fish. 

 Thus it appears to me — and I hope and believe 

 to many of my fellow-anglers — that pleasure is 

 keenest when we try not for numbers captured in 

 any manner possible, but for the delicacy of skil- 

 ful capture that alone is possible when the chances 

 are taken with light gear. From dealers in tackle, 

 we learn that the tendency to sportsmanlike ang- 

 ling is already a marked one. True, indeed, the 

 shops are filled with a host of cunning devices, — 

 imitations of live baits, with sets of hooks (gener- 

 ally three in number), and a sharpened, pin-like 

 blade to pierce the living minnow and hold it 

 securely ; spoons, with a cluster of hooks, each 

 covered beautifully with brilliant feathers, but all 

 appearing somewhat like an ornament of tiny 

 sword points. Every one of these cruel devices, 

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