148 Bass, Pike, and Percb 



to all rules, but more especially in fishing. I was 

 once one of a party of black-bass fishers on a lake 

 in Wisconsin. In one of the boats was a lady of 

 Milwaukee, who was justly considered one of the 

 most expert and level-headed anglers in the party. 

 She always stood up in her boat, was a marvel in 

 casting the minnow, and played a bass to a finish 

 in a style both graceful and artistic after a short, 

 sharp, and decisive contest. She used the light- 

 est rods and tackle, and the best. On this occa- 

 sion, after landing a number of gamy bass and 

 logy pike, she hooked a pike of about six pounds 

 that put her six-ounce rod to the severest test, 

 and gave her twenty minutes of the liveliest 

 work that a fish is capable of. It leaped repeat- 

 edly from the water, and rushed not only straight 

 away, but twisted and turned and doubled in a 

 manner that would have done credit to the gam- 

 est bass. Finally she brought it to the landing- 

 net in triumph, though she was, to use her own 

 expression, " completely tuckered out." I venture 

 to say that no man of the party would have been 

 successful in landing that pike, with the same 

 tackle, in the same length of time. 



A woman who is an expert angler will risk 

 her tackle to greater lengths than a man, and will 



