510 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



feels it instantly, and strikes. Sucker-fishing with the suc- 

 culent worm and fine tackle is far from ignoble sport, at the 

 proper season of the year. 



Bottom-fishing is much practiced in Europe, where fish 

 of the ground-feeding kind are more frequently met with 

 than is the case here. Still, there are times when the sta- 



Fig- 57- 

 tionary sunk worm will take Bass, and nothing else will — 

 this is also the case with the Trout (5. Salvclinus). 



The newly acclimatized Carp may be caught by still- 

 bottom-fishing, but a previous ground-baiting is necessary. 

 The bait — either a paste of cheese, or worm, should be 

 allowed to rest on the ground, and the wily fish will then, if 

 the tackle be fine, avail themselves of it. They are "kittle- 

 cattle," however, to capture. 



I have thus briefly and succinctly sketched the lesser 

 tackling of the angler, and the methods of making. The 

 matter of rods is a very serious' one, and demands a sepa- 

 rate chapter, which is accorded it. The two subjects 

 are separated for the convenience of the reader, rather 

 than because they are necessarily of distinct nature. Any 

 and all anglers can learn to make their flies, leaders, etc., 

 but to make rods requires closer attention, and is really a 

 trade in itself. 



THE FISHING-ROD, AND ITS AMATEUR MANUFACTURE. 



The origin of the fishing-rod is lost in the mists of 

 antiquity — and it is of not much consequence. It may be 



