30 



THE SMALL-MOUTHED BASS 



is accustomed to fish alone, the rod should not be more 



than this length, as there will be difficulty in capturing 



the fish with a landing-net; because, one has to play the 

 bass with one hand while using the landing- 

 net in the other; and with too long a rod 

 this cannot be safely accomplished. 



Many experiments have convinced me 

 that a rod from six feet to seven feet in 

 length, varying with the reach of the 

 angler, is the best. To get the exact length 

 of rod suitable for one's particular reach, 

 sit in a chair, and with a landing-net in 

 one hand reach out as far as possible 

 without straining the muscles ; in the 

 other hand hold the rod, and move the 

 two hands about in a horizontal plane so 

 that the rod and one arm form, with 



the landing-net and the other arm, the sides of a triangle. 



Then the tip of the rod should be exactly at the centre of 



the landing-net. 



Even when the landing of the fish is 



made by an assistant a short rod is 



more convenient. 



I advise all anglers, however, who 



wish to become experts, to fish alone. 

 Apart altogether from the pleasure 



of discovering, alone, the favourite 



haunts of the bass, nothing is so de- 

 moralizing to the whole art of angling 



as conversation, especially in the form 



of the interrogative mood; so that, if 



one must have a guide, let the latter 



be one not given to expressing his 



thoughts in language, and therefore preferably one with 



Indian blood. 



