142 FAMILIAR PISH, THEIR HABITS AND CAPTURE 



together, different baits should be tried until it is 

 found which is being taken the best. In using min- 

 nows, hook them through the lips or thi'ough the back 

 just under the dorsal fin — the former is preferable — 

 especially with large bait. Two small crabs, about an 

 inch long, seem to attract fish better than one large 

 one. They should be hooked through the tails, and 

 back to back. Dobsons and angleworms should be 

 placed on the hook in such a way that they can 

 squirm about. Two or three crickets, and often 

 grasshoppers, make splendid bait. 



Very frequently bass will be found on stony bot- 

 toms at depths varying from 30 to 50 feet. To secure 

 them so deep down, a very stiff bait rod is required, 

 as fully 50 or 60 feet of line are necessary to reach 

 that depth with a heavy sinker, and the fish can not 

 be struck sufficiently hard to set a hook with a light 

 rod. A minnow should be used for bait, and ample 

 time allowed the fish to gorge it after the first bite. 

 A long line being out, the advantage is on the side of 

 the fish, great care being necessary to save it ; not a 

 particle of slack should be allowed. 



When all other methods fail, the last resort is to 

 troll a small spinner, with or without a minnow, or a 

 minnow on a snell hook, very slowly across the bars 

 or around stony points. No sinkers are used, and 

 40 or 50 feet of line should be run out. In fishine 



