FISHING FOR BIG-MOUTH BASS 



a " strike." The bait should be dropped 

 lightly, so as to produce a liquid and alluring 

 " plunk " in the water. 



This mellow sound rouses all the ferocity 

 of a bass, and he will take the frog with a 

 " kerchug " of the water around where it lit 

 and a triumphant sweep of his broad tail. In 

 these little pockets the water growth of sub- 

 merged weeds and grass makes landing the 

 fish a difficult and delicate task. Often a 

 bass gets the line tangled in the weeds or 

 rushes, and it is necessary to row the boat to 

 where the fish is stuck and slip the landing- 

 net under the bass, weeds, moss, and all, so 

 as to save the fish. 



A man fishing with a long cane pole, with- 

 out a reel, can pop a frog into these lairs 

 and snake, a bass out by main strength and 

 awkwardness. It is not scientific fishing, but 

 simply brute force. The fact is that a good 

 bait-caster, with the proper rod and appli- 

 ances, can get bass where the cane-pole fisher- 

 man cannot get them. He can cast farther 

 from the boat, and the bass, which is a shy 

 fish and a suspicious one, has less opportunity 

 for seeing the boat or hearing the oars of the 



31 



