THE STRIPED BASS 



fish will refuse the bait when suspended in mid- 

 water, and it becomes necessary to substitute a run- 

 ning sinker for the float and swivel sinker and let 

 the bait lie on the bottom until a bite is felt, when 

 the hook is to be sent home by a quick strike. 



Additional appliances of great utility in surf 

 fishing are a long-handled gaff -hook made of the 

 finest steel and very sharp-pointed; a knife for 

 cutting up (or "chumming") the waste parts of 

 the menhaden, a spoon for throwing out the chum, 

 and thumb-stalls, or cots, made of wooUea yarn, 

 leather, rubber, or other suitable material, to pro- 

 tect the thumbs from being chafed by the line. A 

 shoemaker's knife, well sharpened, makes an excel- 

 lent bait-knife. 



Bait. — The striped bass is such an omnivorous 

 feeder, and his taste changes so frequently, that the 

 angler will use many diff*erent kinds of bait during 

 the fishing-season. No doubt the common shrimp 

 is more generally used than anything else, except 

 on the California coast, where many fine shrimps 

 are found, but are not necessary to tempt the appe- 

 tite of the bass. Little fish called shiners and sar- 

 dines, and the clams of the region, form the usual 

 bill of fare. For trolling, the Golcher, Stewart, or 

 Wilson spoon, is used, with tackle which would be 

 considered unnecessarily heavy in the East, but 

 which may at any time have to stand the weight and 

 strain of a great salmon instead of that of a bass. 



199 



