BASS AND MULLET 185 



modulated hymn of praise, not raising its voice 

 "as it would if turned by a heavier fish ; and the 

 slender rod bobs, not indeed with the steady curve 

 that tells of a big one, but sufficiently to suggest a 

 pounder. To bring such a bass to the net is child's 

 work. In vain it eddies and circles round the 

 stern. The little bronze reel is wound in almost 

 without a hitch, and at just the right moment Cox 

 has shipped his oars and dipped the landing net 

 under a gleaming little bass of perhaps a pound and 

 a half. One does not fetch out the steelyard to 

 these small fry, though such a fish is as pretty and 

 as sporting as any of its size. Trout, someone 

 murmurs ? Speak up ; and remember that, though 

 we use a trout-rod, the cast is of salmon-gut, for 

 to trust to anything finer would be to run needless 

 risk with that record fish of the season, to dream 

 of which means inexpensive bliss. Hook a bass 

 like him that lies shining in the boat, quieted with 

 the merciful tap of a rowlock, on a moorland 

 trout cast. Hook him, if you like, but play him 

 in a bath if you want him, for he would break 

 your gossamer gut for all your arts. Another 

 sand-eel on the hook, and once more we turn our 

 back on Cox, who again dips the paddles gently 

 in the stream. Three or four more bass, a little 

 smaller than the first, are hooked during the next 

 half hour. And now the salt water is flooding the 

 -estuary in earnest ; the boat drifts yards upstream 



