CHAPTER IX 



TROLLING FOR BASS 



At first thought the bass-caster will be inclined to 

 recent the introduction in this work of a chapter 

 upon trolling, asking with fine scorn, "What busi- 

 ness has such a chapter in a volume upon casting 

 any way?" I answer simply, it has no business in 

 such a book as he has in mind, but does have a 

 logical place in a book dealing with bass and arti- 

 ficial lures. There are times and waters when and 

 where trolling is legitimate, logical and successful. 

 If the reader has but a single day to spend upon a 

 bass water, and Fate so turns the cards that he fails 

 with the ordinary methods of casting, will he not 

 forget his scruples for the nonce and resort to troll- 

 ing? I believe he will. I know just what it means 

 to return after a long day on lake or stream with a 

 creel guiltless of fish. Oh, I know that we do not 

 "fish for fish," that it is the "lure of the Outdoors" 

 that calls us from town, but to face our neighbors 

 the day after the bootless excursion, ah, there's the 

 rub. While the methods of the troller do not 

 require the skill and finesse demanded of the caster, 

 still, to succeed, the rodster must possess certain 



245 



