FISHING FOR CRAPPIE 



" bobber " as it rides the current. And when 

 the " bobber " begins to turn and swing and 

 bob, and finally goes under, what a calm sat- 

 isfaction there is in lifting out a wriggling 

 crappie and letting him lie on the thick grass 

 under the trees. How you admire his bright 

 tints and with what good-nature you " heft " 

 him before you put him on the string ! 



Still-fishing on the river-banks for crappie 

 is more essentially philosophical and Wal- 

 tonian than the lake-fishing, for several rea- 

 sons. In the first place, the crappie does not 

 make a fight, as a bass does, and you are not 

 apt to be disturbed by a bass in the river- 

 fishing. And then a river has a great deal 

 more individuality and expression than a lake. 

 A river is going somewhere and is doing 

 something. It suggests a final picture of the 

 sea. So that even in the dreamy summer 

 freshness, under the trees along the river- 

 banks, you can call up salt seas and the snows 

 of myriad wings of restless gulls. A lake, on 

 the other hand, is purely pastoral and re- 

 ceptive. No current to speak of and no 

 carrying down of any message to the sea. 

 Still-fishing for the smaller fishes is conducive 



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