60 The Angler's Secret 



Half the time their bait would be eaten 

 without their knowing it, in most cases 

 by crabs and killy-fish. 



Why are these men forever obstinate 

 to their own disadvantage why do they 

 abhor proper equipment and correct meth- 

 ods in the very sport they most affect? 



I once saw a careful rodster creel sixty 

 fat lafayettes little fish, to be sure, but 

 what matters this? on the Hudson river 

 at the foot of One Hundred and Fourth 

 Street, New York, and he took this num- 

 ber in two hours, while hand-line fisher- 

 men were doing nothing beyond stirring 

 up the river bottom with the heavy iron 

 sinkers they used. My friend had a 

 light outfit, and knew how to work it, 

 There was no tide running; the water 

 was as quiet as an inland lake. The 

 little rod bent and swayed as it would in 

 trout fishing. 



"I would n't fish with a thing like 

 that," said one of his outwitted and spite- 

 ful neighbors. 



