CASTING THE MINNOW. 427 



The angler should never be in too great a hurry to land 

 his fish; for if lie is well-hooked he can not gHit away, 

 while if he is hooked in a thin or weak part of the mouth, 

 there is a greater necessity that he should be gingerly 

 played and tenderly handled, until he is coniph'toly 

 "tuckered out," and turns up his belly to the sun. There 

 is never any thing gained by too great a hurry in Bass 

 fishing. On the contrary, "the more haste the less speed," 

 is a maxim particularly applicable to this case. 



In reeling in the line, whether playing a fish or re- 

 trieving the line, it should be guided on the spool of the 

 reel by the left middle finger, when the reel is underneath 

 the rod (as it always should be), or by the left thumb 

 when the reel is used on top ; it should be reeled on regu- 

 larly from left to right, and from right to left, like sewing- 

 cotton on a spool. This prevents that "bunching," or 

 piling, and the subsequent tangling and snarling of the 

 line, so common with beginners and careless anglers. It 

 is just as easy to reel the line correctly, and in regular 

 and uniform coils or turns, as to bunch it, if the novice 

 begins right; after the habit is once acquired, he does it 

 automatically or mechanically. 



