212 STRIPED BASS. 



tin or bone. In this mode yery ]arge fish were once 

 taken at Hell Gate, but the glory thereof has departed. 

 "Where squid cannot be obtained, the large spearing or 

 barred kiUey will answer well. 



There is this redeeming quality about taking striped 

 bass with the float and sinker, that the fishing generally 

 being done in a rapid, and at times, boisterous current, 

 the bait has to be kept in motion, and it is necessary to 

 reel in and cast out every few minutes. As great skill 

 in casting can be obtained, and there is an immense 

 advantage in throwing into the exact spot, it is truly a 

 sportsmanlike mode of procedure. A good fisherman 

 can cast thirty to forty yards, or even more, into the size 

 of a hat, without tangling the line or jerking the bait, 

 while the tyro will generally fail reaching half the dis- 

 tance, and will frequently leave his baits on the way. I 

 can cast better and further from the left side, and have 

 heard many old fishermen say the same, but you must be 

 able to use the rod on either side. 



As there are persons so ignorant as not to know how 

 to cast at all, and as I once found one stopping his reel 

 with his first finger, I will say that to make a cast the 

 line is reeled up till the float touches the tip, or in 

 case no float is used, till the bait is within a foot of it, 

 the right hand grasps the rod at the reel, which is turned 

 up, and the thumb placed upon it to regulate the escape 

 of the line ; the left hand is near the but ; the point of the 

 rod is then carried back behind the fisherman, and witii 

 a steady, springy motion is suddenly brought forward 

 and the line delivered. A jerk, or the fouling of the line, 

 which wiU surely happen if it is allowed to overrun, will 



