174 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



line and spoon, or with rod and reel, with minnow, small 

 spoon, or artificial flies. Trolling with the hand-line can 

 hardly be reckoned within the paie of legitimate angling; 

 sometimes, as in camping, it is practiced as a matter of 

 necessity rather than as a phase of sportmanship. 



Trolling with light and suitable rod and tackle, and a 

 small spoon, a minnow, or artificial files of large size, is a 

 higher grade of angling than still-fishing, and is productive of 

 the keenest enjoyment and pleasure. Many anglers prefer 

 it to all other methods, as there is the variety of the slowly 

 moving boat, the ever-changing scene, and the fierce rush of 

 the Bass when he seizes the moving lure — for he always hooks 

 himself (if hooked at all) in this style of fishing. 



Trolling with the rod is usually more successful than still- 

 fishing, on lakes and large ponds, as the angler covers more 

 ground, and the bait is in constant motion, and moves in a 

 more natural manner. The angler also has opportunities to 

 indulge more in hope and anticipation than in still-fishing, 

 and requires less patience and perseverance and pertinacity. 



But in all the methods of angling, from fly-fishing to still- 

 fishing (excepting always the murderous hand-line and spoon) 

 perhaps comparisons are indeed odious; for all methods have 

 their votaries, each as enthusiastic as the other, and each, no 

 doubt, getting as much pleasure and enjoyment out of his 

 own method as the other in his; and, moreover, all are alike 

 members of the universal angling guild, and however different 

 their modes and methods, one and all can say of "angling," 

 as did Sir Henry Wotton (who died in 1601, aged ninety-five 

 years), that it was "a rest to his mind, a cheerer of his spirits, 

 a diverter of sadness, a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moder- 

 ator of passions, a procurer of contentedness;" that "it begat 

 habits of peace and patience in those that professed and prac- 

 ticed it." 



