12 PRACTICAL BAIT CASTING 



ward, sending the lure up, out, and then down. It 

 ! strikes a few inches from the rock. 



"That ought to ." 



The remark is never finished. There is a mighty 

 swirl, such as is made only by a fighting-mad, well- 

 conditioned old "he-bass," the rod curves gracefully, 

 and the battle is on. 



For an instant the surprised fish permits himself to 

 be reeled toward the fisherman. Then he turns and 

 tries to regain the shelter of the big rock. The fisher- 

 man "gives him the butt," the rod bends dangerously 

 near the limit, then the bass, as though suddenly chang- 

 ing his mind, dashes madly up stream, the line cutting 

 the water in swift zigzags. Gradually this rush is 

 stopped, and relentlessly he is reeled near the net. But 

 no, the battle is not over! The fish leaps and madly 

 endeavors to shake the hook from his mouth. With 

 each leap the tautness of the line is maintained by a 

 slight lifting of the rod, which is lowered as the fish 

 re-enters the water. Finally he is led over the net 

 and with a feeling of half-elation, half-regret, the fish- 

 erman removes the hook and places the game battler in 

 his creel. 



The fisherman continues his journey up stream. Now 

 he stops near an identation in the shore line, known in 

 angling parlance as a "pocket." Three or four casts 

 produce nothing. At the next stop there is a swirl, a 

 bass is hooked, but he leaps and frees himself. Farther 

 on, near a fallen tree, a bass misses and a pickerel is 



