Black Bass Fisliing. 393 



"That is the way most Northern tourists usually take them, be- 

 cause they don't know how to handle a rod ; and then, the necessary- 

 tackle for hand-trolling can be carried in the pocket. It is the sim- 

 plest mode of angling, if it can be dignified by that name, for it is 

 more suggestive of meat, or 'pot,' than sport. The pseudo-angler 

 sits in the stern of a boat with a stout line, nearly the size of an 

 ordinary lead-pencil and about seventy-five yards long, to the end 

 of which is attached a spoon-bait or trolling-spoon, with one or two 

 small swivels. When the boatman rows the boat slowly and quietly 

 along the trolling-spoon. revolving swiftly beneath the surface at the 

 end of fifty yards of line, glittering and flashing in the sunlight, 

 is eagerly seized by the bass as it passes near his lair, when one 

 or more of the hooks attached to the spoon are fixed in his jaws. 

 While there is a certain amount of excitement in hauling in the 

 struggling bass by 'main strength and stupidity,' as the mule pulls, 

 there is not the faintest resemblance to sport, for there is no skill 

 required in the manipulation of the line or bait or in handling the 

 fish when hooked." 



"Do they troll with the hand-line, too?" asked Ignatius. 



" Not many of them ; they use a long rod or pole for still- 

 fishing, skittering, and bobbing." 



"What are skittering and bobbing?" 



" Bobbing has been practiced in Florida for more than a century, 

 and is a very simple but remarkably 'killing' method of fishing. 

 The tackle consists of a long cane or wooden rod, two or three 

 feet of stout line, and the 'bob,' which is formed by tying three 

 hooks together, back to back, and covering their shanks with 

 a portion of a deer's tail, somewhat on the order of a colossal hackle- 

 fly; strips of red flannel or red feathers are sometimes added; 

 all together forming a kind of tassel, with the points of the hooks 

 projecting at equal distances. The man using the bob is seated in 

 the bow of a boat, which the boatman poles or paddles silently and 

 slowly along the borders of the stream or lake, when the fisher, 

 holding the long rod in front of him, so that the bob is a few inches 

 above the surface, allows it to dip or 'bob' at frequent intervals in 

 the water, among the lily-pads, deer-tongue, and other aquatic 

 plants that grow so luxuriantly in that sub-tropical region. The 

 bass frequently jumps clear of the water to grab the bob, but 



