BASS AND MULLET 195 



are even days down there when we give the weed 

 best at starting, seeing how matters stand and de- 

 termining not to waste good bait under conditions 

 which almost certainly preclude all hope of suc- 

 cess, for the bass will not touch a bait with the 

 least shred of weed attached to it. This makes 

 it a particularly serious handicap, for the fisher- 

 man, waiting in vain for a bite, is tempted to put 

 the lack of fish down to the weed, whereupon he 

 reels in, thereby often, no doubt, by dragging 

 it against the tide, impaling weed on a hook that 

 was innocent of it before he wound in his line. 

 For those who fish for pleasure, life can hold no 

 joy if they have to reel in thirty or forty yards 

 of wet line every few minutes and remove clinging 

 weed from the bait. The better part, therefore, 

 is to go home and dream of better days to come, 

 for now and then, particularly on Monday morn- 

 ings, when the salmon nets have lain idle during 

 their compulsory weekly close time, there are 

 occasions when this herbage ceases from troubling. 

 For the lurid language with which some men greet 

 this passive vegetable every time a frond drifts 

 past the boat there can be no excuse whatever. 

 Another nuisance, pressing, undeniable, is the 

 number of other boats sometimes out on the same 

 errand. To some extent this too generous measure 

 of the company of your fellow creatures may be 

 evaded by very early attendance. Yet if only all 



