into some other bait and what otherwise might have been a 

 poor day may be turned into one of good sport. As for my- 

 self I carry every kind of bait which I can possibly secure 

 and if the bass are not taking frogs I can usually hit upon 

 something which will be attractive to them. 



I learned the bait lesson some years ago on a northern trip 

 and will never rely on one bait. I had gone some 200 miles 

 northward in search of some real bass fishing, and had taken 

 frogs and craw-fish along for live bait. In my tackle box I 

 had three spinner minnows, but thought little of them, as I 

 had never used them. I arrived at the lake, which was sup- 

 posed to be one of the finest bass lakes in the world, and it 

 didn't take me long to get busy with the frogs. I whipped 

 around for two or three hours and literally beat the lake into 

 a foam, with the result that I captured a couple of puny, mis- 

 guided bass. Disgusted with the prospect, I tried still fishing 

 with craw-fish and had no better result. Then, in desperation, 

 I began casting with one of the white minnows, and after that 

 there was nothing to it. I got bass and big ones, too, on nearly 

 ever cast. I also used pearl spoons with success, but could not 

 induce the bass of that lake to do anything with a frog. I have 

 fished, too, when bass would ignore all artificial baits and take 

 nothing but a frog, and all of this has convinced me that the 

 complete angler must be supplied with all kinds of baits. 



Bass fishing in our southern lakes early resolves itself into 

 deep water fishing, and but few bass will be taken in by other 

 methods as a usual thing. For this kind of fishing, minnows, 

 craw-fish and helgramites undoubtedly are the best baits, 

 although frogs will still be a favorite with many who get 

 accustomed to this bait in the earlier casting season. For still 

 fishing shiners, chubs and yellow perch minnows are probably 

 the best, with the shiner the favorite. This minnow is light 

 In color, having a silvery appearance and shows particularly 

 well in dark water, such as one finds on a cloudy day. Chubs 

 are tougher than shiners and thus can be handled more easily 

 and live longer, but as a rule they do not make as good bass 

 bait as shinners. The chub is darker in color than the other, 

 and thus makes pretty fair bait for very bright days. Yellow 

 perch minnows, too, are very attractive in the water and great 



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