THE ROD FOR BAIT-CASTING 109 



field of angling literature, and in game fish culture, 

 has placed every American sportsman 

 deeply in his debt. This rod is 8>4 Length 

 feet in length, and designed purely for Weight 

 underhand casting, the side cast, and for 

 casting the minnow and other natural baits, a method 

 discussed in a later chapter. This form of bass fish- 

 ing, with its accompaniments of live-bait trouble-mak- 

 ers, never acquired wide popularity, the majority of 

 bass fishermen continuing to still-fish or troll or, under 

 favorable conditions, fly-fish. Then, only a few years 

 ago, some anglers in the vicinity of Chicago began to 

 use a very short rod, generally less than six feet, and 

 to cast overhead ; a method suited to and evolved from 

 the local bass fishing conditions, weedy, shallow lakes, 

 where great accuracy in casting, attained best by the 

 overhead cast, and a sturdy rod were essentials. The 

 baits used were frogs and various pork-rind baits. 

 Followed then the invention of a number of artificial 

 baits which were very successful and adapted for cast- 

 ing with the short rod and the game of bait-casting 

 had its inception. Many anglers now favor the ex- 

 clusive use of artificial baits for bass even as the fly- 

 fishing purist is wont to frown upon the use of bait for 

 trout. This is purely a matter of the personal equa- 

 tion. Many of us can still see some slight, passing 

 merit in a " garden hackle," or, on occasion, some little 

 utility in the plebeian strip of pork-rind. 



For practical angling it is now pretty generally con- 



