24 



"QUEER BAIT" 



of the little stream a wriggling mass of 

 worms, all heading for the shore. I never 

 again tried to catch the bass after a heavy 

 shower. I found one fisherman using 

 crawfish, and strangest of all, another was 

 having very good luck catching the bass 

 with soldier crabs, which he brought from 

 the salt water near Boston. 



On September 20 last, it being the last 

 day of my outing at the lake, I determined 

 to make a last grand effort for a record 

 catch. You will acknowledge that it was a 

 grand effort when I say truthfully that I 

 started out in my boat at 5 a.m., with the 

 following bait: helgramites, frogs, minnows, 

 white grubs from a potato hill, nightwalk- 

 ers, angleworms, grasshoppers, crickets 

 and troll, a pretty fair assortment. I was 

 well rewarded, though, for after trying all 

 the other baits, I hooked on a minnow. I 

 feared my minnows were a little large, but 

 the seven and a quarter pound small-mouth 

 bass (almost the record for this lake) which 

 I soon after landed was evidently satisfied. 

 Aside from this I had two other good ones 



and thirty-one of the largest yellow perch 

 I ever saw, weighing from one and a quarter 

 to two pounds each, and measuring from 

 fifteen to sixteen inches in length. Most of 

 them were caught on the live minnow. The 

 natives call these perch the red fin and 

 they are caught in 20 to 30 feet of water. 

 But to cap the climax and to also prove that 

 science and bait count for little at times, I 

 stopped at a well-stocked stream about 

 dusk one evening in July. I had just ar- 

 rived from the city, and was not prepared 

 to fish, most of my tackle being in my 

 trunk. To say that the trout were rising to 

 a wonderful extent would be mild ; the sur- 

 face of the water was literally alive with 

 fish, jumping for the little white miller 

 which appears about the evening hour. I 

 had my pole with me, and in my valise a 

 reel and line and some hooks, and no bait. 

 I quickly cut the corner from my hand- 

 kerchief and tied it fast to a hook, the best 

 I could do to imitate the miller, and in fif- 

 teen minutes I had caught three beauties, 

 enough for early breakfast. 



THE SUSQUEHANNA NEAR UNADILLA 



