FOREST AND STREAM 
1179 
OCTOBER THE REAL BLACK BASS MONTH 
WHEN THE HEAT LEAVESTHE WATER THE BASS 
RESUMES HIS FIGHTING STRENGTH AND WAYS 
By Black Bass. 
O CTOBER is the black bass month. At no 
time since the opening of the season have 
their appetites been so keen as now, and 
at no time have they been so lively and in a 
condition to show so much fight. The doubters 
of the gameness of the small mouth bass have 
only to catch one during this month and their 
whole opinion is changed, and they will admit 
that after all Dr. Henshall was right. “Ounce 
for ounce and pound for pound, the black bass 
is the gamest fish that swims.” 
There are two primary things that tend to 
make the fishing better now than it has been all 
summer. The cool waters invigorate them for 
one thing, the same as it does human beings upon 
the land, but the chief reason is that they must 
fatten up for the winter’s hibernation, during 
which time they do very little feeding. Just as a 
bear will hunt about in the fall and eat more 
than it requires for actual food, so that there 
may be a layer or two of fat to sustain life dur¬ 
ing the bleak winter, do bass gorge themselves 
in the latter part of the summer. 
As October advances and the frost is felt the 
minnows are driven away from the very shallow 
water along shore and seek refuge and food 
among the weeds, occasionally venturing into 
even deeper water, but as a rule keeping well 
within the weeds. 
The crawfish feel the frost and begin to bur¬ 
row into the mud and sand for the winter, and 
are soon gone, except the largest and hardiest 
fellows whose shells are much to hard for any 
but the very largest of bass to swallow. 
Frogs have all grown too large or else have 
gone into the mud the same as the crawfish. 
These circumstances render the conditions per¬ 
fect for the bait caster, and very nearly perfect 
for the still-fisherman and troller as well. The 
bass must have food and plenty of it and will 
take most anything providing it is served in a 
natural way. 
For night fishing at this season the frog has 
proved to be the bait par-excellence, and if it be 
a dark night sometimes they will take every cast. 
1 
be it a whole frog or just the leg of one, but so 
frantic are the fish that, as a rule, no more than 
one out of every ten will be brought to boat. 
They will rise to the bait, sometimes even before 
the bait touches the water, give it a yank, which 
pulls the frog from the hook, and be gone be¬ 
fore the fisherman has a chance to strike or fig¬ 
ure out just what to do next. 
Such nights do not generally occur except in 
late October when there is a low-hung mist and 
the fish do not seem to be able to distinguish 
between it and the water. When they do occur 
the fisherman has a chance that he may never 
see again, and should he be rigged right and have 
the right bait he might consider himself decidedly 
fortunate. 
A short, heavy rod is the thing needed, one 
about four and a half feet in length and weigh¬ 
ing from five to eight ounces, preferably of solid 
wood. Theory does not enter into the question 
here, and long slender rods, which theoretically 
give the fish a chance will, in actual practice, be 
absolutely fishless. One must have a rod with 
backbone enough to lift the fish bodily out of 
the water if necessary. This may sound brutal 
and unsportsmanlike, but when one has been 
through such a night the need of a practical rod 
is realized, greatly to the detriment of the slen¬ 
der bamboo. It is well to give the fish a chance, 
but foolish to give it all to them, one is fishing 
for fish and not for sentiment. 
A quadruple multiplying reel is necessary; one 
of wide, low barrel and the very best that one 
can afford. A large amount of satisfaction is 
derived from a fine, easy-running reel, and above 
all, a reel that can absolutely be depended upon, 
for one has no time nor opportunity to stop and 
fool with a reel that will not do its work well 
in these dark hours. 
Use a braided silk line fifty yards in length 
and tested to at least twelve pounds, although a 
heavier test will do a little better work, even 
though it only inspires the fisherman with more 
confidence in his tackle. It should be strong 
enough to allow of a rather heavy strike, a strike 
that will effectually hook a big small mouth bass 
in its frantic leap and keep it hooked during the 
continuation of such frantic leaps until it is- 
brought to boat. 
On a night like this great care should be taken 1 
in approaching the shore for any purpose. Cast 
into the expected landing place at least a half 
dozen times before rowing in. Even then one is 
apt to hear a big bass dash out as the boat ap¬ 
proaches the shallow water. 
On moonlight nights the wooden surface bait 
will do almost as good work as the frog. But 
care must be taken that a shadow does not fall 
on the spot to be fished, a shadow cast by the 
moon will frighten the fish before the bait 
reaches them. The shadow of the boat will not 
bother them particularly, but waving arms will. 
Incidentally cast along the shores where pos¬ 
sible rather than into and away from them, by 
so doing ten times more bass ground can be 
covered than by the latter method. 
In day casting most any bait can be used with 
success, some of them, of course, more success¬ 
fully than others. 
There is a bait made in imitation of crawfish 
that will prove highly successful at this time of 
year, chiefly because the soft shelled crawfish 
have entirely disappeared and the others are fast 
following suit, the fishes’ hunger for them being 
in consequence rather more keen than at other 
times. The scarcer any standard food is at this 
time the more successful an imitation of it is apt 
to be. 
However, during these crisp days all the 
As the Indian Summer Days With Their Golden Glamor Come Again, the Black Bass Deserts the Shallows for Deeper Water, 
