RECREATION 



But, to return to fly-fishing for bass. The 

 method on this lake is to take a rower in the 

 boat with two anglers, one each side casting 

 and covering a sweep of the water. The 

 rower brings the boat gently over the chan- 

 nels and rocky ridges of the lake, and near 

 to the lily pads, and the casters carefully 

 send the fly hither and thither with all dili- 

 gence and watchfulness. Presently, when 

 least expected, a fish rises with fierce and 

 sudden splash and the rod springs swiftly 

 in the air with taut and certain impulse, out 

 runs the line with a wild screech of the reel, 

 up flies the bass in the air four feet or so 

 above the water, and with quick surprise 

 the boatman yells, "A five-pounder! Keep 

 the point of the rod up, give him the butt!" 

 On speeds the fighting fish, up in air again 

 he springs, more line he carries out, the 

 angler grows more and more eager and 

 nervous, but does not lose his grip, still 

 keeping, a tight line on the struggling fish. 

 Ten minutes— twenty minutes — and at last 

 it turns toward the boat, which has been 

 deftly sculled here and there since the bass 

 was hooked to ease the strain on the six- 

 ounce rod. At last it approaches the landing 

 net. The rower reaches forward to net the 

 panting and apparently exhausted fish. It 

 sails easily, obeying the impulse of the rod 

 to within three feet of the reach of the net. 

 Then with one mighty downward plunge, 

 instantly followed by an upward spring out 

 of the water, the five-pound bass absolutely 

 clears the bow of the boat with the velocity 

 of a torpedo, snapping the leader with its 

 tail, and falls with a resounding splash to 

 vanish fore verm ore from sight! This is a 

 true story of what actually occurred, and is a 

 common experience of the bass fly-fisher. 

 Of course such a disaster does not always 

 occur, for several larger fish than the lost 

 "five-pounder " have been landed during the 

 present season from Highland Lake. But 

 the majority of the largest black bass, in this 

 lake as in all others I have known, are those 

 that break away, apparently, and according 

 to the reports of the unfortunate anglers, 

 who relate their experiences when such 

 catastrophes occur. One, and the greatest, 

 capture was, however, related to me over the 

 camp fire on Glen Lake in August, 1904, by 

 the Postmaster of Glens Falls, who, some 

 decade before, caught on rod and line with a 



live minnow a true black bass of nine pounds 

 from that very lake. I speak from his own 

 words and the testimony of the late A. N. 

 Cheney, whose letter is in my possession, 

 and this bass was probably the largest ever 

 seen in the possession of an angler. It was 

 weighed at the office of the largest hotel in 

 Glens Falls, where the orginal record is 

 kept. In any case, the Postmaster, Mr. 

 Baker, will verify it, as he caught it. From 

 this incident it may be deduced that the 

 largest fish are not invariably those that get 

 away, and that the law which says they do 

 is not immutable. 



Though the fly is a usual way of fishing 

 for bass the trolling bait seems to prevail 

 in the later season, when the bass frequents 

 the deeper water in the lake to which I am 

 chiefly referring. Most of the baits on the 

 market have been tried here with varying 

 success, especially the Phantom and the 

 Dowagiac — the first being of silk, painted 

 the color of a minnow, and the latter of some 

 kind of composition which is sufficiently 

 weighty to sink the bait in moderately deep 

 water. If I must use a bait for bass I prefer 

 the live minnow rather than the silken, 

 metal, celluloid or rubber imitation, or even 

 the dead one on a flight of hooks so arranged 

 that they will make the bait revolve when 

 drawn through the water, either when tow- 

 ing or casting . 



I do not enjoy trolling for any .fish save 

 the voracious pike or pickerel, but the frog 

 is so irresistible a bait in late summer for 

 the black bass that I can put it aside. It is 

 used extensively on Highland Lake, and 

 kills when no other bait will do the least 

 execution. The larvae of the Cory dolus 

 cornatus (the "Dobson"), or helgramite, 

 is also invincible in August and September, 

 and in Northern New York it is indispens- 

 able before then. So also is the larvae of the 

 dragon fly, and when these flies begin in 

 July to break loose from these "what is its, " 

 as it is called, the bass are ravenous for them 

 on the lake, and lucky is the fisherman who 

 has provided either a supply of frogs, grass- 

 hoppers, garden worms, "what is its" or hel- 

 gramites, just at the psychological moment 

 or day. 



So much for the bass, which is the prime 

 fish of Lake Highland. The pickerel de- 

 serves mention because he is often caught 



