FISHING A WADEABLE STREAM 181 



which may not be out of place regarding the variety 

 of angling with which we have to do. Suppose the 

 rodster had hooked a fish at the edge of the bass- 

 wood hazard mentioned above there would be just 

 one thing for him to do, keep the fish from fouling 

 in the branches. The bass would attempt to dive 

 under, but a taut line the rodster should not give 

 an inch e'en though the line break will serve to 

 swing the fish out, the force of the current aiding, 

 down into safe water below. Perhaps the bass will 

 dash up-stream, if so the fisherman backs up, remem- 

 bering that a taut line must be maintained and the 

 tip of the rod pointed in the direction of the hooked 

 fish. Should the bass leap, and if he is a bass worthy 

 the name, he will, the caster need not worry, his 

 straining line will "pull him down." That is all I 

 have to say here. Play every capture until com- 

 pletely exhausted, then net him gently, and kill him 

 at once mercifully. 



Note: Since the foregoing chapter was written I 

 have experimented with a number of small streams, 

 for the most part so small that no one fished them, and 

 the results have been truly surprising. In a thickly 

 settled farming community I fished half a mile of shal- 

 low water, not over knee-deep, except in holes under 

 the bank, taking half a dozen as fine small-mouth as 

 were ever won from the upper reaches of the lordly 

 Mississippi. I am coming" to believe that in the Middle 

 West there are scores of small-mouth streams awaiting 

 some ichthyic Columbus. 



