AUGUST, 1917 
FOREST AND STREAM 
HOW TO GO BASS FISHING DE LUXE 
THE RIGHT TACKLE, AND SKILL IN HANDLING IT, COUNT EVEN 
TOWARD CREELING THAT “FISH FOR THE PEOPLE, NOT FOR THE FEW” 
By GEORGE GILBERT 
L ITTLE by little, through experience 
and by interchange of opinion, some 
of us who fish the Susquehanna, Dela¬ 
ware and Chenango rivers in New York 
state have developed what seems„to us the 
only method of fishing for small-mouth 
black bass. For one, I am intolerant about 
this. I have been accused of being bigoted. 
I plead guilty and reaffirm—that there is 
only one way to fish for black bass, and 
that is our way. 
To be sure, you can fish at black bass- - 
and maybe catch many of them—other 
ways, but our way admits of no improve¬ 
ment or rival. It is black bass fishing 
raised to the nth power —de luxe, altissi- 
mus, grandissimus !—But to descend from 
these heights of appreciation, what of 
The equipment? 
A trout rod, not over five ounces; four 
ounces if you can afford a good one, and 
know how to handle it. Carry it in a cloth 
case, without any extra tip. Leave the 
wooden carrier at home. 
Reel ? One that will balance the rod: 
a good one. I prefer an automatic, small. 
The line? A light trout line, oiled silk. 
The best. 
Leader? Single gut or, if double gut, 
very light. Have it misted, if possible. 
Hooks? Cincinnati bass, not too large; 
or New York bass, or any other hook that 
is strong and has not too long a shank. 
Landing net? Certainly; one that is car¬ 
ried just like a trout landing-net. Have 
plenty of elastic on it, so it will hang just 
in reach of your right hand—or your left, 
according as you use your pole in the final 
moments of landing. 
Creel ? Certainly, a large creel, say a 
12-pound one, like you use for trout. The 
creel should always be carried on the side 
opposite to the net. 
Bait pail? Yes; one that can be strapped 
to your belt in such a way that it comes 
on the left side; not behind the pelvis 
bone—better just to the right of it, the 
bait receptacle resting on your abdomen. 
The pail may be small, with a cover well 
ventilated. Some of the makers furnish 
pails that have holes in the top and a de¬ 
pression in the cover to lay the bait in, 
to facilitate hooking it on. It is conven¬ 
ient to have also either a small short- 
handled hammer or a bit of steel, to stun 
the bullheads under stones. 
The bait? Generally speaking, little bull¬ 
heads. Also helgramite, little frogs, night- 
walkers, lampreys, larvae of dragon flies— 
anything that a bass likes. Little bullheads 
will be 80 per cent efficient most of the time 
in our kind of bass fishing —de luxe, al- 
tissi— /—Both toes on the ground, now; we 
are all but ready to start and do not want 
to arrive out of breath. 
Waders? As you fish for bass generally 
when the water is warm, probably not. It 
depends upon the vigor of one’s constitu¬ 
tion, and other considerations. Personally, 
I go with old shoes on my feet, inside of 
which I wear heavy woolen stockings. An 
old pair of pants, a short fishing coat with 
plenty of pockets, a flannel shirt with two 
pockets high on the breast, for matches 
and tobacco, an old hat (in which a few 
good bass flies should be stuck, because 
you never can tell) complete the essential 
outfit. 
But when going far, I carry an extra 
pair of pants rolled tightly and tied to 
my shoulders like a knapsack. They are 
dry when the day ends and mean comfort 
on the ride home—if there is a ride. If 
there is none, the walk home will dry your 
clothes and do you good. 
Have a rule in your pocket and measure 
your fish. Never take one unless it is a 
good inch over legal limits. I am inclined 
to make it a leeway of two inches. A black 
bass is not ready to vote until he is a foot 
long, anyway. 
Now we are ready to start after black 
bass, in fashion de luxe. ... So per¬ 
mit me to describe one trip, personally 
conducted in the approved manner: 
I T is the opening day of the black bass 
season. June is half gone. The trout 
streams we can reach from here already 
hold only blase trout or minors. But what 
care we? What is a six or eight-inch or 
larger trout, as compared to a royal black 
bass caught out of a deep rift, putting 
every ounce of his pound or two or three 
pounds into the fight, with the swift water 
to aid him against the light tackle? 
The bob-o’-links are here. The robins 
already are part w'ay through their house¬ 
keeping. It is warm—no chance of snow 
on the opening day of this fishing season, 
as there is when the state lifts the ban on 
trout. Every posey is out and the ferns 
are glorious in their new beauty. Meadow¬ 
larks pipe; song sparrows sing. The grass 
is almost as tall as it will be when the mow¬ 
ers clip it down, but not as lush as then. 
The train speeds up the Chenango, past 
the Forks, and takes the Tioughnioga 
branch. At Messengerville I get off. I 
might have gone farther, or taken the main 
branch at the Forks; it matters not. Or I 
might have gone up the Susquehanna or 
over the hills into the Delaware valley. 
I have no bait with me—seldom take 
any. In this kind of fishing the bait ques¬ 
tion solves itself for those who know how. 
During the last few moments of the trip 
I have made my preparations. So as the 
train stops, I am ready. There is a little 
creek emptying into the river at Messen¬ 
gerville. Above, in the hills, fair catches 
of trout may be made in it. Down here 
on the flats it is a mere trickle in warm 
weather, or between rains. The lower 
hundred yards of it are paved with flat 
stones—good hiding places for little bull¬ 
heads. Especially is this true near the 
mouth of the creek. 
Taking care that the bait pail is clean, I 
fill it about half full of creek water; then, 
with creel and landing net in place, pole 
threaded, leader and hook on—everything 
in place—I go down the creek tapping 
here and there a flat stone, and getting a 
dozen or 18 little bullheads on the way to 
the river—enough for the time being. More 
can be had anywhere along the stream, or 
helgramites can be found, or other bait. 
It is all there, if a man is bait-wise. 
Below the creek mouth are some gentle 
rapids. This I wade boldly.—All this sort 
of fishing is done without any of the skulk¬ 
ing needed in trout fishing: you simply get 
into the stream and go with it. 
Twice, going through the rift, the line 
straightens out viciously. The first time 
the hook is not planted. The second time 
it is and a flash of bronze and mottled 
greens and yellows tells of the fight to 
come. He turns himself into a trick per¬ 
former. He is in and out of the water, 
over toward one bank, then the other. 
Times he runs toward me, times he races 
back. All the time he has the weight of 
the rushing water to aid him. The trout 
rod, the light line, the spider’s web of a 
leader, the small hook, give him every op¬ 
portunity. If I can land him fairly, clean¬ 
ly as you would land a trout from the 
Beaverkill, will it not be worth while ? 
And he is a fish for the people, not for the 
A black bass is not ready to vote until he is a good foot long 
