146 STRIPED BASS. 



standing on a level with the water is rare indeed. 

 In fact, seventy-five yards is a good cast, and no 

 man need be ashamed who can put out his line fair 

 and true that distance. Rather better can be done 

 with the hand-line than with the rod, but with far 

 greater fatigue, and a painful over-exertion of the 

 muscles of the arm that is almost unendurable to one 

 who has not steady practice. The length of cast is 

 in a measure controlled by the direction and vio- 

 lence of the wind and the elevation of the stand 

 above the water ; in a contrary wind the best angler 

 will find it difficult to reach seventy-five yards, while 

 from a high rock, with a favorable wind, he will 

 cover that distance with ease. 



The use of the hand line is neither artistic nor 

 adapted to gentlemen who fish for pleasure, although 

 more killing probably than the rival method. For 

 rod fishing, the best tackle and implements are ne- 

 cessary ; the rod must be short and stout, the finest 

 being made of cane at a fabulous expense ; the reel 

 should have steel pins or run on agate, be made 

 large and perfectly true, and the line must be from 

 two hundred to three hundred yards long. Cane 

 rods are preferred on account of their lightness and 

 elasticity, but they are at present almost unattaina- 

 ble at any price, and the ordinary ones will answer 

 well, although after several hundred casts weight 

 will be found to tell on unaccustomed muscles. The 

 objection to jewelled reels is, that a fall or blow may 

 render them useless, while they run but little 

 smoother than those with steel pins. The reel and 



