THE BASSES: FRES H-W ATER AND MARINE 



three on a single cast two-pounders each this 

 evening, and if I lose them all, the glory of such 

 a strike would last me to brag of and enjoy for a 

 month, if I did n't basket another scale for a longer 

 time than that." 



" Boys, hold up ! " interposed the Doctor. :< It 's 

 mainly a question of strength in your tackle. Look 

 at this gut out of which my leader and fly-snoods 

 are made. It has stood a dead strain of nine 

 pounds, and no two fish that scull the Schuylkill 

 can get that much out of it, that is if I handle 

 my reel and rod right. In fifteen casts in forty- 

 five minutes, down there in the little bay below 

 Polly's Island you can see the place plainly be- 

 tween those two maples I caught nine fish that 

 weighed over seventeen pounds, and six of those 

 fish were caught two at a time on just such gut as 

 this, that has neither a flaw nor a fleck in its whole 

 nine feet. Mendy, you are wrong for once, old 

 fellow; stick to your miraculous scores and hitch 

 on another bug to that mist-colored leader of yours, 

 which, judging from its look, is strong enough 

 to hold a twenty-pound salmon, always supposing 

 that your hand and arm are at the landing-end 

 of it." 



" Come, come! " cried Gills. " If we stand here 

 talking any longer, we '11 lose our best chances at 

 the bass. Do you intend, Doctor, to take a turn 

 at them by moonlight? I see that the clouds have 



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