Fish and Fishing 



important needs; but even from such a descrip- 

 tion, with a very httle practice, any intelligent 



angler will be able to take a lure 

 Sd'^Lu^ri''^'' where fish are, and catch them. 



Spoon and minnow lures are used 

 mostly for bass, mascalonge, pike, pickerel, various 

 trout, and, in some regions, salmon. The angler, 

 if strange to the locality, should endeavor, first, 

 to find out a local boatman, guide, or native an- 

 gler, and question him regarding the fish, what they 

 are, where they lie, what bait they are caught on. 



Guides usually insist that their methods, baits and 

 themselves are the only means of getting fish. In 

 rare instances it may be so, and your carefully 

 selected tackle goes for naught for a while. You 

 can then test your own ideas and tackle, which will 

 be an interesting comparison. Nine times out of 

 ten, if you are up to snuff, and understand your- 

 self how to work things, you will do quite as well 

 as the guide. In lakes and ponds bass frequent 

 rocky bottoms, sometimes sandy, at others weedy; 

 they rarely frequent very deep water. You will 

 soon find out, if the boatman does not 

 know, how deep the water is by the 

 rate your minnow or spoon sinks. I always carry a 

 sinker and get the soundings when boating. Water 

 round the edges is nearly always from two to fif- 

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