April 12, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
483 
SOMETHING ABOUT BAIT-CASTING. 
Continued from page -lliii. 
reel, lines, hooks and three or four representa¬ 
tive American artificial baits. 
The art of bait-casting is soon learned if you 
will go at it with patience and calculation. You 
will know when you stand with your thumb on 
the spooled line, ready to cast, how much value 
there is placed on that member. You must 
learn to gauge distance and instinctively know 
how much force it will take to. send the bait 
that distance. When you are ready to cast, the 
thumb is pressed down on the spooled line. 
'I'he rod is then swung backward and forward 
smartly, at an angle of about forty-five degrees. 
As the rod comes forward it is brought out 
nearly level and is held so while the line is 
running out; when the bait falls, the thumb is 
brought down on the spooled line, the butt of 
the rod is pressed against the stomach and the 
reeling-in process begins. It is very simple to 
the man who is born careful and calculating; 
but the man who is careless and inattentive 
will have his hands full and may give up the 
pastime in short order. Be sure and use your 
artificial baits, and remember and put it up as a 
motto to follow, that one bass caught with much 
work, when you are using care and drawing 
upon your experience, means more than a 
whole sack full caught otherwise. You' will 
know you outwitted an ingenious old fellow of 
the pads. By all means use the artificials, but 
do not forget the live bait. 
\\'hen the bass have retreated to the deeps 
in the middle of the summer, the frog bait and 
the artificials may not do their duty; then they 
may he taken by aid of a long line baited with 
the afore-mentioned helgramite, worms, etc. 
In the evening hours the bass will come in to¬ 
ward shore and may be taken in the pads. Bass 
lie along sandbars in the middle of the summer 
and an underwater bait lowered to the right 
depth will get them. It is foolish to stop your 
bass fishing, as some will, right after the bass 
have retreated into the deeper water. Then 
is the time you should get out and try your 
luck; in fact, it is then you must work for it. 
There is no sport where everything comes your 
way. One failure should be counted a blessing 
and ten of them but a further encouragement 
to go in and win. 
Some of the best fishing may be had at 
night, using the moonlight, or glowing baits. 
Such baits are coated over with a phosphor¬ 
escent preparation, which, held to the light for 
a few minutes to absorb glowing power, will 
suffice for a night on the lakes. It is said that 
the bass feed up until twelve o’clock midnight. 
I have caught bass up till almost that hour, 
using the phosphorescent baits. Trolled 
through the water, they look ghostly and awe¬ 
inspiring. but it is certain the bass are not over¬ 
shy at them, as a trial will show you. Study the 
bass. It is only through study that you will be 
able to fully appreciate the pastime, and it is 
one of the best that is offered you. 
Mention is herewith made that fly-casting 
makes for a splendid sport indeed; in fact, it is 
in a class by itself. The rod for fly-casting for 
bass should be slightly heavier than the trout 
rod, and it should have a stiff backbone. My 
steel rod has proven to be very successful in 
this branch of the pastime as well as on the 
trout streams. It has been condemned as being 
too metallic; that it has not the “feel," but I 
liave found it worthy of notice and have had 
success with it. It is a rod you can rely upon 
for rough work. It has resiliency and pliancy 
to a marked degree. The price readily comes 
within the means of the average man. Of 
course, the bamboo trout rod can be used very 
successfully. Light tackle will give you a good 
time, and if you land your fish without mishap 
you are lucky. But the steel rod clings on like 
a tenacious thing of life. Use your enameled, 
waterproof silk line and your single action reel, 
with six-foot leader. Bass flies will lie found 
in the lists of reputable makers. 
The Boy Scouts of France. 
The French name of the movement that 
corresponds to the organization of Boy Scouts 
of America is La Ligue d'Education Nationale, 
says The Outlook. Its president is M. Louis 
Liard, the eminent authority on philosophy and 
ethics. The members take a pledge never to 
speak ill of their country before strangers, and 
under any circumstances, when they have occas¬ 
ion to speak of French public life, “to discuss 
discreetly what is bad, to be silent about what 
is middling, and to extol what is good in French 
public life.” The local groups are made up very 
much as they are in America and England, and 
the members have naturally come to be known 
as “eclaireurs,” scouts. 
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abounds in suggestions that testify to 
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Illustrated, $1.00 net. 
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Written by an expert, this 
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HARPER & BROTHERS 
