158 PRACTICAL BAIT CASTING 



improves every season. The accumulation of twigs 

 and the stones afford hiding and feeding places for 

 minnows, crawfish, and other animal life. 



For week-end trips simpler retreats can be rigged 

 up with cane poles for uprights and cord or wire for 

 cross-pieces. 



HOOKING, PLAYING, AND LANDING THE FISH 



After the angler has found the fish, selects the pro- 

 per bait, and at last gets the strike that makes his 

 heart "miss on one cylinder," there still remains the 

 problem of hooking, playing, and landing the prize. 

 As it is neither polite nor necessary to tell the ex- 

 perienced caster how to handle his fish, it is under- 

 stood that this chapter is for the beginner who is some- 

 what skeptical as to the ability of what seems to him a 

 fragile piece of bamboo, steel or wood to "hold" a big 

 fish. As a matter of fact, few rods are ever broken 

 in actual fishing; very few indeed when handled with 

 a reasonable amount of care. 



It is true that it is usually the big fish that gets 

 away, but this is because the big fellow generally puts 

 up a harder fight and the angler in his anxiety to 

 land him takes undue liberties with rod, line, and 

 hook more often the line. Also one's style of casting 

 has much to do with the losing or hooking of fish. 

 It is more than a mere coincidence that the man who 

 cannot start his bait back quickly loses so many fish. 

 Especially when fishing with artificial baits should 



