ME, MY BOY AND BAIT. 



MY SON returned in a short time, his broad- 

 brimmed straw sitting on the back of his head. 

 The prespiration rolled down his rosy cheeks 

 their color somewhat marred here and there by the 

 barn-yard dirt which formed diminutive puddles about 

 the dimples in his chin .where the small rivulets of 

 perspiration came in contact with it. Said he, "I've 

 got a can of angle worms here, supposin' you wanted 

 to catch chubs for bait." "Yes," said I, "worms are 

 good for chubs, but in this latitude where the sun 

 shines warm and swift running iwater races over 

 thousands of loose rocks, you find plenty of helg^a- 

 mites which afford a better bait for chubs and a very 

 good morsel for bass." My son crossed his legs and 

 began a discussion of the bait question. I had to 

 enter into a full explanation. "The helgjamite," I 

 explained, "is an insect varying in length from a 

 quarter to three inches, with a pair of pincers for 

 defense- It is made up of a succession of joints 

 with a rim or collar immediately back of the head, and 

 a body gradually diminishing in size to the tip of the 

 tail which is pointed. He moves rapidly upon small 

 crawlers and is very evasive of the light. The proper 

 manner to handle the little subject is to pick it up 

 just back of the head between the thumb and the 

 forefinger, and to bait with it the hook is passed 

 directly under the collar. The easiest way to capture 

 this kind of bait is to take a yard of mosquito netting 



35 



