290 



RECREATION. 



My first thought was that we had struck 

 a submerged rock and knocked a hole in 

 our craft. Turning quickly, I beheld Kohtz 

 on hands and knees in the bottom of the 

 skiff trying to capture as lively and hand- 

 some a bass as one would wish to see. The 

 fish had jumped out of the water and 

 dropped at Kohtz's feet in the skiff. The 

 question is, did Mr. Kohtz, in his swift 

 rowing, accidentally thump some hidden 

 rock and cause the startled fish to jump 

 into the boat, or did the bass miss his cal- 

 culations in aiming at my white bucktail 

 and land himself on board? 



A few minutes later we reached our 

 camping place, where we discovered an 

 early morning visitor in the person of a 

 young Frenchman, named Joe Le Brun, a 

 resident of the neighborhood. 



We spent an hour or more talking to 

 him. 



Having lived on the Kankakee all his 

 life, he is familiar with every bend and turn 

 of the river, as well as with the habits of 

 its finny tribes. 



During the conversation he told us that 

 in October of the year before he had come 

 down the river in his skiff just as darkness 

 was setting in. By keeping close to the 

 bank of the river where the weeds were 

 highest and rocks the most plentiful he al- 

 lowed his inshore oar to scratch, scrape and 

 thump over the rocks. 



"Why, boys," he said, "I .had bass jump- 

 ing up all around me ; some would go clear 

 over the boat, and 7 of them jumped just 

 right to land at my feet in the skiff." 



After our own experience we thoroughly 

 believe Mr. Le B run's story, and have made 

 arrangements to meet him again in October 

 and thump for bass down the Kankakee. 

 Success or failure, whichever it may prove, 

 I shall be glad to report if you so desire. 



To Mr. Mann I say, Stick to your 

 story, and tell your unbelieving friends for 

 me that bass can be caught by thumping. 

 Moreover, once in a great while, you will 

 find one accommodating enough to flop into 

 your boat without being thumped. 



Thumping is equally as unsportsmanlike 

 as spearing, and no decent sportsman 

 should ever be guilty of either. Both 

 should be prohibited by law in all states. — 

 Editor, 



JUMPING BASS. 



Cincinnati, Ohio. 

 Editor Recreation : 



I derived a great deal of pleasure from 

 the article entitled "Thumping for^ Bass," 

 by A. M. Mann, which appeared in July 

 Recreation. 



No wonder he had trouble when he men- 

 tioned his experience to his friends, t have 



been through it myself, with the same re^ 

 suit, as to being considered a champion 

 liar. The only way by which you can con- 

 vince anyone of the feasibility of catching 

 bass in the manner described is to take that 

 person out and show him, which I have 

 had the pleasure of doing on numerous oc- 

 casions. However, the sport should be 

 called jumping bass, instead of thumping 

 for bass. 



The trick, which is quite difficult, was 

 taught me by a French Canadian, some 12 

 or 15 years ago, and the way we worked it 

 was as follows : The man who propels the 

 boat should sit in the stern, as close to the 

 left side as he can, in order to bring that 

 side of the boat close to the water without 

 upsetting the boat. This throws the other 

 side of the boat up into the air and the 

 fish have to jump high to get over it and 

 away. That, however, frequently happens. 

 Put your second man in the middle seat, as- 

 tride, and facing the shore, and give him 

 a hoe handle, with which to poke in the 

 weeds. All other noise should be avoided. 

 Proceed leisurely along the stream or lake, 

 keeping about 4 or 5 feet from the weeds, 

 and let the man with the pole punch his 

 stick into the weeds straight down, try- 

 ing to strike the bottom if possible. This 

 frightens the fish and causes them to jump 

 toward the middle of the stream in order 

 to escape. They clear the low side of the 

 boat, and striking the other side, which is 

 high in the air, fall back in the boat. 



While this sport is exciting, it is also the 

 hardest kind of work, especially for the 

 man at the oar. He will have his hands 

 full trying to master the trick of paddling 

 on one side of the boat only and guiding it 

 with the same stroke of the oar which 

 sends the boat forward. 



The person who tries this method of 

 catching bass should see to it that he has 

 a perfectly dry boat, for put a bass in the 

 bottom of a boat with a quart of water and 

 he will splash around until he succeeds in 

 wetting everything in the boat, especially 

 the men who capture him. 



Of course, more fish escape than are cap- 

 tured, but we have succeeded in jumping as 

 many as 18 bass at one trip up stream 

 about one-half mile and back on the other 

 side. Some of them were small and we 

 placed them back in the stream. 



Evening is the time to jump bass, and 

 best results are obtained when a storm sud- 

 denly raises the stream 2 to 4 feet, because 

 then the fish hug the shore. 



On one occasion we had the extreme 

 pleasure of jumping a gar almost 2 feet in 

 length. It didn't take us long to make a 

 good fish out of him. 



George L. Sage. 



The trouble is that too many people will 

 believe your story and will go and do like- 



