64 Fishing in .American Watees. 



which you have experienced in, the immediate vicinity of 

 New York, but that it will prove a foretaste of a whole, sea- 

 son to be hereafter enjoyed in angling and trolling for the 

 game fishes of our coast and estuaries. 



SECTION FIFTH. 



casting bait foe STEIPED bass. ' 



Casting menhaden bait for striped bass from the rocky 

 shores of the, bays, estuaries, and islands along the Atlantic 

 co.ast constitutes -the highest branch of American angling. 

 It is indeed questionable — when considering all' the elements 

 which contribute toward the sum total ofsport in angling— 

 whether this method of striped.bass fishing is not superior 

 to . fly-rfishing for salmon, and if so, it . outranks any. angling 

 in the world. The, method is eminently American, and char- 

 acteristic' of, the modern' angler by its energy, of style, .and 

 the exercise and activity necessary to success. 



Reels for .this kind of fishing have taxed the ingenuity of 

 •the best fishing-tackle makers in the Unionl The. balance 

 crank should be designed with the greatest nicety of propor- 

 tions, to prevent a momentiim hard to check with' the thumb, 

 and still the craink should not be so. short as to be difficult in 

 reeling. The ctank- should also be placed so far Jback, and 

 low on the end of the reel as not to endanger the -fingers of 

 the angler by a sudden strike of a heavy fish,- for; a bass does 

 not, like the salmon,.Btop to.stiidy the cause- ofa pain in the 

 jaw, but straightway makes a,run: without hesitation. The 

 best materials for reels are supposed to ' be' German silver, 

 brass, or bell-metal. The- wheels should run on jewels, and 

 be so covered with an inner, case as to .protect them from 

 salt water. The reel should not be tbolong; the one repre- 

 sented on the plate of bassing implements indicates the shape. 

 It should be a triple multiplier, without check or drag, and 

 large enough to carry from two to three hundred yards of 

 fine linen line. 



Lines should either be of linen or hemp, hawser-laid, or of 



