408 
FOREST AND S T R E A M 
July, 1918 
ANGLING FOR THE VALIANT BLACK BASS 
THE SPINY FIGHTER MAY BE CAPTURED WITH A VARIETY OF TACKLE BUT 
HE RESPONDS TO CORRECT METHODS WITH EXHILARATING DASH AND VIGOR 
By ROBERT PAGE LINCOLN 
O NCE upon a time, in the dear old 
fireside companion and comrade of 
trail and water, Forest and Stream, 
the magazine you hold in your hands, 
there appeared an editorial. It said: 
“Reams of poetry and tomes of ponder¬ 
ous wisdom have been accumulating for 
centuries on the subject of trout and the 
joys of capturing him, but the literature 
of the black bass, while modern in na¬ 
ture from the fact that the bass is not 
a world-wide fish, is also growing apace. 
Dr. Henshall was the first American au¬ 
thor to give the bass a proper place in 
angling literature. It is only fair to say, 
however, that the bass had been sung in 
song and stories for many years—prior to 
the time, perhaps, when the learned Doctor 
bent his first pin and impaled thereon the 
wriggling angle worm. Some people of 
idle mind and superficial view call the 
black bass the fish of the bourgeoise re¬ 
serving to the trout the title of real 
aristocracy of game fishes. This is snob¬ 
bishness of the most flagrant kind. Never 
has there been born a man too good to 
fish for bass, and never to the end of 
time, or until the stream of earthly joy 
are merged in the channels of celestial 
existence will such a condition arise.” 
The editor goes on to add further virtu¬ 
ous laurels to the black bass, every asser¬ 
tion of which we uphold and give our 
palm. The black bass is truly as our dear 
comrade, Henshall, has said, “Inch for 
inch the gamest fish that swims.” We, 
who yearly fish the waters for the black 
bass, know this. The bass is the inland 
fish par excellence. It is the fish we turn 
to with gladness when the season opens 
and the breath of summer again blows 
welcome over the land. I have angled 
long days and years for various of our 
American fishes. I have written hundreds 
of articles telling of the beauties and 
delights of trout fishing and yet I have 
not lost track of Micropterus, the black 
bass, for f can say with cheerful abandon 
and true honesty that some of my most 
pleasant days have been spent in angling 
for him. I have used, not only the bait 
rod, with artificial minnows and live bait, 
but also the fly-rod and the artificial fly 
in my capture of him. In both methods 
he has come up to standard with all the 
old-time dash and vigor, fulfilling all I 
ask and demand. The black bass is the 
great American fish. With the onward 
sweep of civilization the brook trout stays 
awhile and then withdraws; other trout 
are introduced and they do well at times, 
but they too withdraw. But not so the 
valiant black bass. It keeps its numbers 
and is always widely represented in the 
lakes where it is planted; there always 
to welcome the angler with a fight that is 
good to behold. On the black bass we can 
always rely. When we leave the cities and 
go out to recuperate and gain a new lease 
on life, instilling new interests and brighter 
A salt water brother of the black bass 
deeds in us, the black bass is always there 
to swell our record of true happiness. 
Therefore I love the black bass. 
T HE time-honored form of fishing for 
the black bass is with the bait rod, 
with either artificial minnows or live 
bait. In recent years the artificial min¬ 
now has practically reached its height. 
I make so bold as to state that there is 
an actual decline in the use of live bait, 
and a more and more conclusive turning 
to the newer, and more sportsmanlike art¬ 
ificial minnows as the lure. In the past 
the user of the live bait shouted long and 
loud and aggressively that the artificial 
minnow was the most murderous tool, bar 
none, that was ever invented and that no 
self-respecting angler would lower himself 
in dignity to use it. And even lately, Kit 
Clarke, a well known old-time angler has 
severely criticised the use of the wooden, 
or inanimate minnow for the reason that 
it has too many hooks; that it is an 
“assassinating” method and should not be 
given the least countenance. How puerile 
is such nonsensical, foolishness! If one 
studied and used artificial minnows as we 
do who are -active in the game there 
would not be so much bombastic writing 
without first investigating the truth of 
those vigorously upheld conclusions. The 
fact of the matter is that while there are 
many artificials fairly littered with gangs 
on the market these are fast going out of 
use. The leading manufacturers of today 
are putting out artificials with few gangs, 
and even with single hooks, the result be¬ 
ing that, as far as a sportsmanlike appli¬ 
ance is concerned, the artificial favorably 
leads. This is true of all the manufactur¬ 
ers. Their latest productions have fewer 
and fewer hooks, but the attractiveness of 
the lure as to form yet remains intact. It 
is this winning attractiveness that calls the 
bass out to hit it, and if a single hook 
is placed on a minnow with scientific 
knowledge of how a bass strikes a bait, 
that single hook will be just as deadly as 
the many-ganged minnow. 
Furthermore the artificial minnow is here 
to stay. It is here to stay just as the 
artificial fly will always remain. Perhaps 
the most interesting form of the artificial 
is the so-called wobbler, of which there 
is a wide presentation on the market, open 
to purchase. The wobbler form is a signal 
success. Its erratic motion in the water 
purports to imitate a disabled fish trying 
to make headway in the water, and get 
along on its way. Now it is a fact that 
a fish will always strike a disabled young 
fish, to convert it speedily into food, not 
through humanitarian reasons (to put it 
out of its suffering), but that it' can get 
hold of it without undue exertion. Right 
here entered the wobbler minnow, and so 
successfully did it win the attention of 
the bass that in short order it became fa¬ 
mous. It is not my business to advocate 
one wobbler over another, but I simply 
wish to make note that in general the 
firms that have been long established put 
out the best material. When you put out 
good money you want something; your 
money’s worth in other words. Therefore 
see to that your minnow has a durable 
enamel coating. Second rate minnows have 
but a thin veneering of paint that peels 
off after a little while being in the water. 
They crack and check. The minnows from 
the old-established firms do not do this 
and \vill last long and give excellent serv¬ 
ice in proportion. 
I find that the wobbler is exceptionally 
good along the side of the weed beds and 
pads in the middle of the summer and up 
into August. My records of catches prove 
this. But along the first of June, and 
throughout June, when the bass are in the 
shallow the surface baits should not be 
lost track of. Also the underwater min¬ 
nows are then valuable additions to the 
tackle box. Several companies put out 
small-bodied minnows, having just a trailer 
gang, this gang being masked in buck-hair. 
