GLIMPSES OF CANADA, ETC. 247 



bait fishing, and on the day when I killed the 'lunge 

 Ben took me out in the evening equipped with the 

 correct tackle for bass. It consisted of a single piece 

 of bamboo, about 15 ft. long, a strong line a few inches 

 longer, a bung as float, and a hook with 2-in. shank, 

 and gape of about f in. You will remember this kind 

 of rig-out, only with hook of moderate size, as often 

 used by Midland yokels in bream fishing. It is delight- 

 fully primitive. Heavily leaded, you swing out the 

 line to its full extent, and, hooking a fish, haul him in 

 without the assistance of such a superfluous luxury as a 

 winch. There was a kind of bait-can in the bow of the 

 canoe, but I asked no questions, contenting myself 

 with trailing with a 2-in. phantom. 



The fishing ground was along the water-grasses and 

 reeds that extended hundreds of yards from the shore 

 into the lake, and very shallow it was. The wind had 

 completely died away, and the sun by six o'clock was 

 well down in the west. Ben by and by told me to 

 wind up, and urged the canoe into the heart of the 

 weeds, in and in, until we were apparently in the midst 

 of a verdant field of high coarse grass. Here he threw 

 out the killick and unwound the line from his fishing 

 pole. Then from the bait-can he took out a half- 

 grown frog and impaled it upon the huge hook, which 

 I now perceived was of the size and blue colour of the 

 eel hooks of our boyhood. Looking around as he 

 made his preparations I began to understand things. 

 There was a uniform depth of 3 ft., and here and there 

 were clearances small pools, free of vegetation, and 

 of varying dimensions. They might have an area of 

 a couple or a couple of dozen yards. The frog was 

 swished out into these open spaces, and if a bass was 

 there, well and good. The fish was not allowed more 

 than five minutes to make up his mind, and if nothing 



