312 
FOREST AND STREAM 
JULY, 1917 
BASS AS GAMY FIGHTERS 
(continued from page 296) 
the least deter game fishes from taking 
live or artificial baits, either as food or 
in a spirit of antagonism. They do not 
understand the danger of barbed hooks. 
They undoubtedly see the hooks on a 
bait, but, like animals not used to man or 
gunpowder, they are fearless regarding 
them. 
Now we come to the really debatable 
point. If plugs induce bass to grab them 
and get away, the cause of this must be 
the hooks; and I really believe the reason 
we miss so often is because of our using 
treble hooks and the loose way they are 
attached to the plug. To multiply the 
treble hooks does not improve matters. In 
every fish we do get, we find only one barb 
of a treble hook takes hold; even if you 
have five treble hooks on a plug, the fish 
hangs on only one barb. If such be the 
case, why not have one or more “single 
hooks” on a plug or other artificial baits, so 
arranged as to insure a firm hold after the 
strike has been made. The single hook is 
a step in the right direction assuredly, 
though many expert plug anglers may 
doubt that it will finally solve the hook 
problem. Their views I should like to see 
expressed, in order to get one way or 
another the real answer. 
have expressed to me exactly opposite sug¬ 
gestion on my artificial frog. Some wish 
a single powerful hook extending beyond 
the body of the frog; others want that 
hook replaced by two hooks attached to 
the legs, rightly claiming that bass often 
grab a frog’s leg and do not touch the 
The Author’s 
Waga - Pup, an 
Example of His 
Small-size, One- 
big-hook Theory. 
body. Several request a treble hook at 
front and back. My own experience, 
coupled with experts’ advice, convinces me 
that a single or two powerful single hooks 
suffice for any artificial lure. 
Another important and necessary im¬ 
provement in plugs is that up to the pres¬ 
ent time they were made entirely too large 
for bass, and that may be the reason or one 
of the causes why they lose so many 
strikes. Some of the most popular baits 
are already being made much smaller, with¬ 
in a reasonable size—say two inches from 
end to end, just half the size of present 
plugs. 
The bull-pup frog and waga-pup plugs, 
here shown actual size, will give a fair 
idea how much more effective looking 
and rational a small bait is which still re¬ 
tains a fair-sized hook. The latter is much 
more likely to be grabbed, and to keep its 
hold on fish, by reason of the hook being 
larger than the bait. I hope this will be 
found good advice by anglers, who can 
easily alter the situation by requests to plug 
makers. 
The Bull-pup Frog, 
Another of Louis 
Rhead’s Latest. 
I COULD wish that more anglers fished 
in the true sportsman’s spirit and could 
go home with an empty creel able to 
say: 
Complete content, the day has brought it; 
I fished for pleasure, and I caught it. 
Personally I still get keen pleasure in 
my fishing, though I long since lost the 
craving to get big fish and lots of them— 
which only induces vain boastings. For you 
are sure to meet a brother fisherman who 
has caught a bigger fish than yours some 
time or other; if he has not really done so, 
he will say he has. And indeed there is 
little merit in the capture of very large 
fish, or a large number of little ones. I 
can give numberless recorded instances of 
the tyro and little kiddies getting large 
fish on primitive tackle, and quantities of 
little fish on the same. 
Many anglers would more keenly enjoy 
their sport if they endeavored to become 
familiar with the peculiarities of game 
fishes, such as their limited reasoning pow¬ 
ers and the degree of the senses of smell, 
sight and touch displayed in fishes. The 
accompanying chart of a lake, showing the 
haunts of bass and pike with the natural 
food they eat in different localities of the 
water, will doubtless be found useful. While 
it may not be accurate for every lake, it 
is a combination holding true, generally 
speaking, for most lake conditions. Live 
or artificial minnows, cast or trolled in 
shallow places alongside the shores, are 
nearly always effective, certainly more so 
at evening and after dark. Live or arti¬ 
ficial frogs are best used in shallow water 
in the daytime, though my own experi¬ 
ments with artificial frogs have succeeded 
best just before dark. 
I am in a position to know the varied 
opinions of different experts, because they 
Al. Foss Pork-rind Lures. 
Two Rush Tango Minnows. 
These Are Heddon’s Crab Wigglers. The Two Best Known Jamisons. 
T HESE lures, by representative manufacturers, show opinion about evenly 
divided between the single and treble-hook type. Most makers are putting 
„ out dpuble-hook copies of their best known lures, to increase their “weed¬ 
less” qualities—not because they consider fewer hooks more deadly. 
