84 Sporting Sketches 



he never had noticed. Upon his hook and into the 

 water where the other fell it goes, and because the 

 fish is lurking near by for just such another windfall, 

 there presently is something doing. 



" Got a new bait for bass," or whatever it is, says 

 the boy to himself, and he searches for more grubs. 



The fish of the free folk in question include the 

 large and the small mouthed black bass; the rock- 

 bass, or red-eye ; the crappie ; the calico-bass ; the 

 sunfish ; the white bass ; the yellow perch ; the 

 pickerel ; the wall-eyed pike ; the sauger ; the bull- 

 head; the catfish; the drum; the dogfish, or bow- 

 fin, and the garpike. 



The tackle of the free folk must be either the long 

 handline, or the shorter and finer cord which is 

 attached to pole or rod. A thirty-yard handline 

 would be a very fair length, and it appears to lie 

 naturally on a reel carved from a portion of a shingle. 

 It is not wise to merely wind a long line upon a bit 

 of slim stick, for the inside of the ball thus formed 

 retains moisture which soon rots the line at the very 

 worst place, i.e. near the shore end. To the other 

 end is made fast the sinker, which must be just 

 heavy enough to nicely carry out the line and no 

 more. Too heavy a sinker is a clumsy drag when 

 one is pulling in, and it makes too noisy a splash 

 when sent out. The ker-chug of too much sinker 

 will cause one of the free folk fifty yards away to 

 turn his head and grin derisively, and, possibly, he 

 may sweetly inquire why one doesn't tie a brick-bat 

 to his string. He himself would cut a short length 

 of alder half an inch in diameter; punch out the pith 

 till the inside was clear, stick the little tube into some 



