SUCKER FISHING 31 



Well, having decided to fish in a certain spot, 

 adjust your bob so that the bait will be just off 

 the bottom, and then proceed to bait your hook. 

 Now, there is a right way to do this, and, of 

 course, a wrong ; and I want to make the former 

 plain right here, because it is right for trout and 

 bass and other better fish than suckers. Take 

 the hook by the shank between finger and thumb 

 of the right hand, and enter the point into the 

 worm a little distance from the head, so that 

 the head can move when on the hook. Run the 

 hook through to the tail, but not quite out. You 

 now have a worm-hidden hook, and both the head 

 and tail are wriggling. The chief advantage, how- 

 ever, is in the fact that you cannot fail to hook 

 the wariest fish if the worm be threaded on in 

 this way. Some prefer looping the worm ; but 

 this bunches it, and may and does interfere with 

 the chance of hooking the fish. For bass, the 

 worm is sometimes simply hooked through the 

 middle, and allowed to squirm ; and this is very 

 deadly, though an exception to the rule. 



The sucker usually goes in herds, and in fishing 

 for him this must be borne in mind. Gently 

 swing out your baited hook, not making more 



