62 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 9, 1909. 
were tested by all known and some unknown 
methods, but the carburetor did not seem to 
have joined any union and struck work. It was 
doing business at the old stand. Every part of 
the engine seemed to work all right when the 
flywheel was turned by hand. 
"Excuse me, but there seems to be a strong 
smell at the bow of the launch,” said Dan. “It 
seems to smell like gasolene.” 
"The dickens it does,” says Fred. “You’re 
right; it is gasolene,” and, lifting up a board 
in the flooring, he roared, “Out with your pipes; 
the tank must be leaking; the gasolene is all 
down below!” Sure enough it was, and had 
been all night, as the tank was empty. No won¬ 
der the engine did not start. 
While Dan went to the village to get more 
gasolene we pumped out the boat and incident¬ 
ally watched a couple of fishermen at the nearby 
lock. One was a boy, the other a full-fledged 
fisherman, judging from his get-up, and a splen¬ 
did rod with which he, as well as the kid, fished 
in the eddy at the foot of the lock fifteen or 
twenty feet below them. The boy had just 
heaved a three-pound bass over his head and 
within a foot of the fisherman’s cranium. This 
thing was repeated for a couple of times more 
ere Dan rejoined us. The small boy with his 
mother’s clothes pole and a line strong enough 
to land a twenty-five-pounder was giving his 
rival points and beating him to a standstill. 
We were off again. The little engine now 
worked like a charm, and for four miles we 
plugged along past some big islands and a lot 
of little ones, dotted on every hand with cot¬ 
tages or tents, and soon found ourselves at the 
mouth of a creek. 
As we crept past the head of a small island, 
Fred made a cast almost to the shore. “Golly, 
I’ve a bite! Stop rowing, Dan; stop rowing, I 
say; he’s a whale,” he called out, reeling away 
like mad. “Easy, man, easy; play him a bit,” 
I cried. “Play nothing! I want this fish. Tib 
bet he weighs five pounds,” and round went the 
reel. With eyes bulging we watched for the 
five-pounder, while Dan with the landing net 
prepared to do his part. He did not have any 
part this time in the play. The fish appeared— 
a nice, little innocent rock bass, weighing about 
a quarter of a pound. Anything that was said 
then proper to the occasion Fred said. Dan 
studied the bottom of the boat as if it were 
going to spring a leak. 
Pretty soon another bite, and another rock 
bass caused us to try another one of the places 
where Dan said he had seen dozens of black 
and gamy bass caught in no time. He was in¬ 
formed that there was no time like the present. 
Finally a look at Fred’s face told a tale this 
time. He had not much to say. Moreover, he 
evidently had no miserable little rock bass at 
the end of his line. Slowly he reeled in till 
the much-tried rod warned him to give the fish 
more rope, and with a rush and the merry song, 
of the reel, the fish ran out about forty feet 
of line before it stopped sulking. “Now’s your 
time; reel in slowly,” and Fred did so until the 
fish, a fine black bass, was brought within fifteen 
feet of the boat, when off he sped again, but 
not until he had bent the rod almost double. 
The fight lasted a few minutes longer. The last 
rush left a tired fish which fought feebly to 
the end, but finally, amid whoops and yells of 
triumph, found a resting place in the landing 
net and tipped the scales at three pounds four 
ounces. 
Then came my experience, a new one to me. 
A savage tug and a strong pull on the line as 
I reeled in convinced me that a big fish might 
soon join our party. “Ye gods, he’s off,” was 
my disgusted remark, as I continued to reel in 
in order to examine my bait. About six feet 
of line had come in, when I felt the same old 
tug, and striking hard, the fight was on. He 
made several strong rushes and once sulked at 
the bottom for half a minute, resisting the 
strongest pressure I dared put upon the rod. 
Another rush and I began to feel master of 
the situation. When the fish was eventually 
skillfully landed by Dan and his little net, it 
resembled a bass about as much as a pike thirty 
inches long generally does. The voracious beg¬ 
gar had through my bad management lost his 
grip at the first strike, but pike-like he tried 
again. 
With varying success we tried each likely 
spot, learning more about fishing with every 
capture, but learning more from fish we lost 
through a greenhorn’s bungling. “Dan, I’m dis¬ 
gusted with my want of skill, and we want one 
more before we begin to look after the inner 
man,” I said; “row us over to the stumps. I’ll 
take the oars and see what you can do casting 
into the shadow of a stump where they say the 
big fish lie.” 
“All right, Oi’m willing to thry,” and Dan and 
I changed places. 
At the very first cast, which landed close to 
a big stump, Dan got a, strike and began to play 
his fish with a master hand. “Oh, say, Dan, do 
give me the rod; you have him fast. Let me 
have the rod; he acts like a cracker-jack.” With 
reluctance sticking out all over him — I suppose 
reluctance sticks out — Dan handed me the rod. 
Like a horse who knows when a poor driver 
takes the reins, the fish seemed to realize that 
he knew as much as I did about fishing, for the 
first thing I knew the fish had the line twisted 
about a half sunken log, and as I did not want 
the log, I reeled in what remained of the line 
and wrote myself down an ass. 
Alexander Campbell Shaw, 
[to be concluded.] 
The Season’s Outlook. 
From present indications the interest in 
yacht racing this year will be confined to small 
boats. Each year small yacht racing is becom¬ 
ing more and more popular, while the racing in 
the larger classes is falling off. There was a 
time when yacht racing was exclusively a rich 
man’s sport, but the rich men seem to have 
tired of maintaining yachts which have to be 
handled by large crews, and they, too, are favor¬ 
ing the small yacht, which gives lots of fun and 
excitement. The small yacht has its ad¬ 
vantages. It is easily cared for, the cost is 
limited, it can be handled by a small crew, and 
usually the crew is made up of amateurs, friends 
of the owner. When the race is over the yacht 
is taken to her moorings and left in charge of 
a professional sailor, who has to see that the 
racer is kept in good shape and is ready for 
the next contest. 
A yachtsman who favors the small yacht can 
have lots of fun for little money. He can have 
a new yacht each season, and he can have much 
more racing that if he builds a yacht for one of 
the larger classes without the worry that a large 
yacht will always bring with it. 
For this year’s sport several one-design 
classes are being built. These classes, which 
have grown wonderfullv in the last ten years, 
usually furnish good sport as far as racing is 
concerned, but except for the designer, builder 
and those who own the yachts, they are not of 
much benefit to yachting. In a one-design class 
everything depends on the way the yacht is 
kept and handled and, usually some one yacht 
will be hafidled better than the others and win 
the majority of the races. This is not always 
so, as the racing of the New York Y. C. thirty- 
footers has shown, but it would be of much 
more benefit generally to the sport if those 
who wish to race would agree among them¬ 
selves to build for one of the popular classes 
and then let each yachtsman select a designer 
who will furnish plans of a yacht that he thinks 
will be successful. In this way designers can 
put their ideas in some practical shape and 
yacht designing and building will benefit. 
So far little is being built, except for one- 
design classes and for the Sonder class. There 
has been talk of larger yachts, but the tinkering 
with the rules put a stop to large yacht build¬ 
ing, and it is not likely now that any yachtsman 
will order a vessel of more than 50 feet in 
length, because he would not be able to get the 
yacht in good racing trim before the season 
was well advanced. 
Three international races have been arranged. 
The German Sonder boats will meet the Amer¬ 
ican yachts of similar design off Marblehead, and 
the racing of these small craft will undoubtedly 
be the chief attraction of the year. It is ex¬ 
pected that between twenty and thirty will be 
built here and take part in the trial races off 
Marblehead, and the three best will be selected 
to meet the three that will come from Germany. 
Next in importance to this class will be the 
racing for-the Seawanhaka challenge cup. The 
Manchester Y. C. has accepted a challenge from 
the Royal St. Lawrence Club and will defend 
the trophy in a series of three races to be sailed 
off Manchester. 
The members of the Massachusetts Dory As¬ 
sociation have arranged another contest with 
the Nova Scotia dory men for a race for the 
Wagner Lovett cup, which will be sailed off 
Marblehead. 
On the Sound it is possible that there will be 
another international race for dories. The 
American Y. C., to which George Gardiner Fry 
belongs, has invited the dory men of Holland 
