24 Big Game Fishes 



same moment. One rushed ahead, the other 

 darted astern, and we were at once involved in a 

 most spirited tug of war, which resulted in the 

 loss of one fish. At one time twenty or thirty 

 small boats were fishing, and sometimes half of 

 these would have bass hooked at the same time ; 

 the scene as the big fish towed the boats about, 

 the cries and shouts as lines were parted or rods 

 succumbed, being a most animated one. I recall 

 one rush of a bass hooked by a lady, which towed 

 the boat almost entirely across the bay before 

 the fish could be checked, the game later tip- 

 ping the scale at eighty pounds. 



The large bass I took in the little shallow bay 

 was caught with much lighter tackle than gener- 

 ally used, the line being a number fifteen cutty- 

 hunk, which I commend, as the fish, with proper 

 care, can be caught with even a smaller line, if 

 in moderately shallow water. The only draw- 

 back to very light lines is the fact that the sulk- 

 ing fish must be lifted at times, when a little 

 carelessness will break the line. Better lose all 

 than to slay so gamy a creature with a hand-line 

 or anything larger than a twenty-one-thread line. 



In the matter of rods, a seven- or eight-foot rod 

 weighing from fifteen to eighteen ounces, of split 



