52 The Angler's Secret 



pound tarpon in March, pound brook 

 trout in April, lordly salmon in June, 

 weakfish and medium striped bass in 

 July, surf bass, drumfish, and bluefish in 

 August, black bass and pickerel in Sep- 

 tember, and so on with the rod through 

 every month of legal time sometimes on 

 the ocean, sometimes in its billowy surf 

 or breezy bay, sometimes on the placid 

 lake or the flowing river, and at times 

 along the singing woodland brook. An 

 all-round water sportsman is this sort of 

 man, and truly a wise angler he is, for 

 both sport and health may be found in 

 all gentle pursuits with rod and reel if the 

 man himself be not at fault. 



What difference can there be, to a per- 

 son who can practically handle his tools, in 

 taking a hundred-pound tarpon, or a forty- 

 pound drumfish or striped bass, on aheavy, 

 strong rod, and in creeling a smaller fish on 

 lighter and finer tackle? The pursuit, the 

 strike, the play, and the victory are equally 

 exhilarating and just as chivalric. 



