212 STRIPED BASS. 
tin or bone. In this mode very large fish were once 
taken at Hell Gate, but the glory thereof has departed. 
Where squid cannot be obtained, the large spearing or 
barred killey will answer well. 
There is this redeeming quality about taking striped 
bass with the float and sinker, that the fishing generally 
being done in a rapid, and at times, boisterous current, 
the bait has to be kept in motion, and it is necessary to 
reel in and cast out every few minutes. As great skill 
in casting can be obtained, and there is an immense 
advantage in throwing into the exact spot, it is truly a 
sportsmanlike mode of procedure. A good fisherman 
can cast thirty to forty yards, or even more, into the size 
of a hat, without tangling the line or jerking the bait, 
while the tyro will generally fail reaching half the dis- 
tance, and will frequently leave his baits on the way. I 
can cast better and further from the left side, and have 
heard many old fishermen say the same, but you must be 
able to use the rod on either side. 
As there are persons so ignorant as not to know how 
to cast at all, and as I once found one stopping his reel 
with his first finger, I will say that to make a cast the 
line is reeled up till the float touches the tip, or in 
case no float is used, till the bait is within a foot of it, 
the right hand grasps the rod at the reel, which is turned 
up, and the thumb placed upon it to regulate the escape 
of the line ; the left hand is near the but ; the point of the 
rod is then carried back behind the fisherman, and with 
a steady, springy motion is suddenly brought forward 
and the line delivered. A jerk, or the fouling of the line, 
which will surely happen if it is allowed to overrun, will 
