FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 141 



motion to the bait, and care should be taken to have the 

 line and rod always under control, so that immediate 

 advantage may be taken of a strike. 



The importance of a taut line should not be over- 

 looked. After hooking a bass the fish is, of course, 

 played "by hand" rather than from the 

 eep a laut ree j^ un i ess an extra long run takes out 



all the free line. This should not be 

 considered a disadvantage, for, as a matter of fact, the 

 very best and safest way to play a fish is by this method ; 

 that is, by controlling the giving and taking of line with 

 the left hand independently of the reel. 



Light artificial baits are the best to use, such lures as 

 small trolling spoons, fly-spinners, bucktail spoons, etc. ; 



light-weight floating baits and pork rinds 

 1 he .baits on sma |]_ wn ite enameled spoons are also 



very successful. Fly-spoons made in tan- 

 dem style and used in connection with bass flies of 

 well-known patterns, scarlet ibis, Parmachene belle, 

 Montreal, coachman, Henshall, silver doctor, and 

 others, are very pleasant baits to use and, moreover, 

 quite acceptable to the bass; with these should go a 

 small dipsey sinker. Fly-spoons of this sort are made 

 in a great variety of styles and in several degrees of 

 desirability; those with piano wire shanks and without 

 swivels are the best. 



The most successful methods for the strip-caster to 

 adopt when on the bass grounds are very similar to 



those used in bait-casting. Casting from 



a canoe or boat, the angler should work 

 around the lake shore, casting in toward the rushes and 



