OUTDOORS 



If he can get the line wound around a 

 weed or a bulrush or a tuft of grass, away 

 he goes. In lakes where there is a growth of 

 floating moss, as in many of the lakes, he 

 often twists up in bunches of this and man- 

 ages to wriggle from the hook. His only 

 ambition after being hooked is to get rid of 

 the troublesome barb, and his efforts are de- 

 termined and vigorous in the extreme. Not 

 an inch of slack may be given him. And he 

 cannot be lifted into the boat with proper 

 tackle, but must be " played " until he can be 

 drawn to the landing-net. The rod must be 

 able to stand the strain; there must be no 

 knots in the line, and if the reel slips or acts 

 cranky it means good-by to the bass. So, 

 from the moment a big-mouth first u strikes " 

 until he is tumbling around in the boat, it is 

 one round of excitement and uncertainty. 



One test of the skill of the bait-caster 

 is to be able to plump a frog down in the 

 small pockets of open water around floating 

 lily-pads and near the bulrush beds close in 

 shore. Big-mouth bass have quite a fashion 

 of lurking in these spots, and a frog cast 

 skilfully into such a hole very often brings 

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