ISS Book of the Black Bass. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



SKITTERING AXD BQBBING. 



" Then, if you get a grasshopper, put it on your hook, with your 

 line about two yards long; standing behind a bush or tree, where 

 his hole is, and make your bait stir up and down on the top of 

 the water." — Izaak Waitox. 



Skitteking. 



" Skittering " is best practiced with a long and light 

 natural cane rod, from twelve to fifteen feet long, and a 

 strong line of nearly the ssCme length. Xo reel is used, 

 for, like "bobbing," this mode of fishing is only siiccess- 

 ful in grassy and weedy situations, where the water is com- 

 paratively shallow, notably, in the lagoons and bayous of 

 the extreme south, and where the fish must be landed as 

 soon as possible after being hooked. To the end of the 

 line is attached a small trout-spoon, or the skittering- 

 spoon, which is still smaller, being the smallest revolving 

 spoon made. 



The modus operandi is as foUows : The angler stands in 

 the bow of the boat, which is paddled or poled by the boat- 

 man as noiselessly as possible, just outside of or along the 

 channels of clear water, among the patches of rushes, lily- 

 pads or bonnets. The angler, by means of the long rod 

 and short line, skitters or skips the spoon along the sur- 

 face of the water with a jerky or vibratory motion, causing 

 it to spin and glance close up to the edges of the weeds, 

 where it is viciously seized by the bass, who has beei* 

 hing in wait among the water lettuce, or under the broad 

 pads of the water-lily, for just such an opportunity. 



