NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 109 



problematical whether the fish will see the bait. In 

 either case as soon as a fish is hooked the boatman should 

 make it a point to keep the boat in deep water ; the fish 

 should always be played away from the weeds. 



Mascalonge weighing over twenty pounds have been 

 taken on five-ounce split-cane bass-casting rods, using a 

 small caliber bait-casting line and a light quadruple 

 multiplying reel with a small sized single-hook casting 

 spoon for the lure. On the other hand mascalonge 

 anglers, as a rule, do not belong to the light-tackle brig- 

 ade; hand-lines or heavy steel rods equipped with line, 

 reel, and spoon correspondingly large and weighty seem 

 to be the rule. The average angler, possessing average 

 skill in tackle-handling and an average sense of the due 

 proportions of things, together with a modicum of in- 

 sight as to the difference between angling and pot-fish- 

 ing, will do well to strike a happy medium. 



For either casting or trolling for mascalonge a good 

 grade split-bamboo rod, from seven to eight feet three 

 inches in length, weighing from eight to nine ounces, 

 will answer the purpose, always provided it is handled 

 with the necessary dexterity. The rod should be 

 equipped with trumpet guides of German silver, or steel 

 wire guides, using preferably agates for the hand- and 

 tip-guides; the reel-seat, having one of the numerous 

 forms of locking attachments, must be above the hand- 

 grasp. 



For trolling, a double-multiplying reel should be used 

 as it has more winding-in power than a quadruple mul- 

 tiplier, but for casting a four-multiplier is, of course, 

 imperative. The trolling line may well be water- 



