398 
FOREST AND STREAM 
July, 1920 
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WHERE THE GAMY ROCK BASS HIDE 
(continued from page 373) 
Small pools at the tail of swift shal- 
lows, eddies and deep places around large 
rocks, on the riffles themselves or in swift 
currents, “cut unders” where the current 
of a stream disappears beneath a loam 
bank, in eddies where the current swirls 
about a leaning tree or old rotten stump, 
in deeper currents where the bottom is 
made up of coarse boulders and sunken 
logs and brush drifts, all of these places 
are the favored haunts of this little bass. 
As a rule the rock bass is not a lover of 
large pools. He seeks those miniature 
deep spots hidden away some place in 
the lee of an old leaning log or where 
the overhanging brush cuts off the light 
of day with only a little gem of sunlight 
flecking the foam and the blue shadows. 
Look for him in these places. Take it 
slowly on your way along the stream. 
Explore and pry into the secrets of the 
thickets and you will be surprised how 
many of these little hidden treasure 
houses you will find. Wherever a sharp 
current breaks around any projection in 
the stream or curls into an eddy, cast a 
bait into the place lightly! There are 
fish in those places also. 
Fish for him at a depth of about 
two or two and a half feet under the sur- 
face. He feeds at early morning and 
late evening and at some certain sea- 
sons of the year at night, when the 
entire bass family goes forth seek- 
ing their sustenance and in the shal- 
lows which also mark the bass feeding 
grounds. On shallow sand bars, gravel 
and rock riffles, in stretches of current 
| where there are large boulders, these are 
the places where he finds the crawfish, 
' but they are not in deep water, so that 
I I have come to believe that the rock bass 
does not as a rule give much attention 
to bottom feeding. A lure worked on 
the bottom will bring no results. He 
takes an interest in agitated lures, very 
live baits and the artificial fly, some- 
thing with a good showing of life is 
what he is looking for. I have known a 
few cases where bass were taken on dead 
minnows, but these were used more as a 
“skitter” bait. Although oftentimes used 
by anglers of some experience I believe 
the “float” to be a detriment rather than 
a help. It is true that this article of 
tackle helps in keeping the hook free 
from entanglements with underwater 
snags but at the sacrifice of strikes. With 
the float attached the bait does not have 
a chance to move with the added agita- 
tion of the tremor which comes with the 
rod held in the hand. Jog the bait up 
and down often when still-fishing for 
him, then hold it steady for a short 
while, this will raise him if he is in the 
feeding humor. Workjthe lure in close 
to projecting branches that might appear 
on the surface from the sunken log 
drifts, or where a pole might be project- 
ing from the shore into a pool, under 
brush that dips in the water. He is there. 
T HE food of the rock bass is practical- 
ly the same as that favored by the 
black bass. I make it a point to 
1 examine the stomach of my fish before 
cleaning or at the time of taking, if I 
am at all uncertain as to what they are 
after, and in nine cases out of ten I 
find the stomach contains a supply of 
partly digested crawfish. One reason for 
this is that the crawfish are the easiest 
food the bass can find to capture, but 
nevertheless it must be acknowledged that 
the crawfish is the staple diet of the 
basses. After the crawfish in the order 
of their liking come the minnow, chub, 
shiner, sucker and perch, the helgramite, 
grasshopper, cricket, angleworm, grub,, 
frog, etc. All of these baits are good 
and reliable ones in their season. On 
some days a lure from this list will be 
a steady killer, the next day not a single 
rise can be gotten on it ; then it is a case 
of switching and finding what these 
epicures of the little streams want. It is 
a case of nature study this question of 
choosing the bait they want. One must 
observe closely the conditions of the 
stream and the thickets along the way; 
perhaps they are feeding from the sur- 
face, then use grasshoppers or crickets. 
Possibly they are in the mood for min- 
nows, if so give them minnows and so on. 
Grasshoppers are an old and tried bait. 
In the dry season during August and 
September they rarely ever fail to brings 
good results. The streams as a rule are 
then clear and at a low stage and the bait 
if placed properly will find the fish. 
Crickets are also a good bass bait at any 
time they can be had. Angle worms are 
an old standby but I would suggest their 
use especially at those periods when the 
streams are a little off color or wholly 
discolored. The old-timer at the game 
of small stream fishing rarely goes 
astream without this lure in his posses- 
sion. When all others fail and the day 
promises a light creel then the angle 
worm comes into his own and brings home 
the fish. 
L AST of all use light tackle for this 
kind of fishing. At best it is heart- 
breaking work at times to trail the 
fish of the little streams to their poels; 
brush and thickets clutter the way. Some- 
thing light, a rod that has plenty of bend 
and that can be twisted in and out among 
the small stuff. Do not have too long a 
rod and yet figure on length enough to 
reach those places out near the center 
of a pool of deep water where an old 
snag might mark the hangout of a prize 
beauty. A light, medium length rod of 
split bamboo is the proper thing to go 
out after the rock bass with; it gives the 
angler more of the thrill when the pug- 
nacious and rugged little gentleman takes 
it into his head to test your tackle and 
on the other hand it gives the fish a good 
sporting chance. Lines of light test silk, 
either enameled or braided, will do for 
the general stream work and a small 
size snelled hook. As to the proper length 
of line for this kind of fishing many 
anglers calculate wrongly. It is not 
necessary that one have a great amount 
of line on the spool. Fifty yards is suffi- 
cient and carry it on a small, light reel. 
(continued on page 405) 
