Chapter XII 



Trolling for Muskellunge 



"I know of old anglers who have experienced better things, 

 who make long excursions in pursuit of Mascalonge, who will 

 sit on a cushioned seat with a cushioned back in the stem of 

 the boat, and suffer themselves to be pulled about all day, with 

 a troUing-rod extended from each side." — Thaddeus Norris, 1864. 



TO-DAY the most expert muskellunge fishermen, 

 those who derive the most pleasure from the 

 pursuit of the "wasser-wolf," do not resort to 

 the long rods to which that early angling writer, quoted 

 at the head of the chapter, refers ; neither do they em- 

 ploy the heavy hand-line so much affected a quarter 

 of a century ago. The day of the short rod and mul- 

 tiplying reel even for muskellunge trolling has arrived. 

 It is not unusual to see a fisherman with a cane pole 

 sticking out over the stern of his boat, to which a 

 line of equal length with the pole is attached, rowing 

 slowly around the edge of the lake. However, either 

 he is one of those seldom individuals who hold all 

 modem angling methods in contempt, or he has not 

 yet arrived at the more satisfactory, scientific, and 

 successful method of trolling. As to the old-fashioned 

 hand-line, one will not see it in use on fresh water 

 these days, unless in backwoods districts by the natives. 

 The advantages of the long line and reel have al- 

 ready been set forth in the chapter on trolling for great 

 pike, and need not be repeated here to any extent. 

 The farther away from a boat the spoon travels, the 



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