THE ANGLER'S GUIDE 65 



"We caught two hundred and sixty," says Harry. 



And so the bayman brags, too, because it's purely 

 business with him. 



I have always found the greatest pleasure in fishing is 

 the fishing and not the blood and bones associated with 

 the pursuit. I would rather take five fair fish on fine 

 tackle correctly manipulated than fill the hold with a 

 hundred horrid monsters mastered by mere strength, as 

 in hand-line trolling for bluefish in the ocean and for 

 muskellonge, etc., in fresh water. 



"But," says Captain Getemanyway, "I can catch more 

 . fish with a hand-line than you can with your fine rod and 

 reel." 



"Of course you can," I reply, "and you could catch 

 more if you used a net, a stick of dynamite or a shotgun." 



If it's the fish alone that is the object of the angler's 

 eye, why resort to any sort of tackle when there's a fish 

 stall in every bailiwick? 



There is great need of enlightenment in the common 

 ethics of angling. Many persons are under the impression 

 that quantity rather than quality makes the angler's day. 



According to their view of the pursuit, fishing is judged 

 by figures, as in finance glory to the man with the biggest 

 balance. This is not so, because with this view accepted , 

 Rockefeller would shine above Christ, Shakespeare and 

 Lincoln. 



The mere catch the number of fish taken is only one 

 little detail; it is not all of angling. If it were, the superior 

 fisherman would be the man who got his fish in any 

 manner. 



Some of our greatest anglers purposely never excel in 

 the matter of numbers. The angler's true qualities are 

 based on the application of correct tackle, correct methods 

 in fishing, and a correct appreciation of the pursuit, the 

 game, the day and the craft. 



'Tis the day and the play, not the heads and hides that 

 count. 



An ancient writer says of the royal hounds: "The 

 hunter loves to see the hounds pursue the hare, and he is 

 glad if the hare escapes." So it is in angling; we do not 

 wish to catch all the fish we can take in any fashion. We 

 want to take some of them in a proper manner with 

 appropriate implements. 



' ' I can catch more trout with the angle worm and more 

 bass with the trolling spoon than you can with the artificial 

 fly," says Robert. 



"Of course you can, Robert," say I, "and you could 

 catch still more if you spread a screen across the tiny 

 stream or set a trap, or if you used a set line with a hun- 

 dred hooks, just as the target shooter might more readily 

 puncture the circle with a charge of shot than with the 

 single bullet, pr just as the greedyman with a blunderbus 

 might excel in number the wing shot by potting quail 



