August, 1918 
FOREST AND S T R E A M 
477 
FIGHTING TACTICS OF TROUT AND BASS 
THE TROUT MAY BE DEPENDED UPON FOR A LIVELY TUSSLE, BUT WHEN THE 
ACROBATIC BASS APPROACHES WITH EVERY SPINE BRISTLING, IT SIGNIFIES FIGHT 
T HE trout with his shrewdness and wily 
habits, his strength and gameness, 
lacks at least one special stratagem 
the bass often employs effectively. He ap¬ 
parently has little conception of the efficacy 
of a timely delivered blow, that dangerous 
and oftimes damaging one, that has made 
many a black bass angler take the count, 
putting him temporarily out of business, 
the strike that comes like a flash of light 
and which the bass sometimes succeeds in 
landing on a taut line, a blow beyond the 
knowledge of a speckled trout. 
When the trout does land one, it is more 
in the nature of an accident pure and sim¬ 
ple, and is easily guarded against, for he 
rarely makes that supreme effort to free 
himself from the restraining hook. But 
with the bass it is an entirely different 
proposition. He has inherited a seemingly 
exhaustless store of energy and unmatched 
resourcefulness, and while not familiar 
with the classics and higher mathematics, 
knows his own business from the ground up. 
He fights with a ferocity that asks and 
expects no quarter. He will come again 
and again, and unexpectedly, and one must 
lower the point of his rod most obsequious¬ 
ly and at the precise moment to avoid dis¬ 
aster. Very theatrical, full of bold ex¬ 
pedients and undaunted courage, he can be 
depended upon to offer stubborn battle. 
But the trout’s first jump is usually his last. 
He prefers fighting under cover. When 
he does come to the surface and fondly 
gazes at you, it is generally a confession 
of defeat. 
When the acrobatic bass approaches with 
every spine bristling, it signifies fight, and 
he dies battling face to the foe. Not that 
the trout tamely submits at the fir&t prick 
of the steel; far from it. He is a fighter, 
though not a scientific one, having no ap¬ 
preciation of the finer and more artistic 
points of the game. He looks the fighter, 
having the neck and shoulders of the pu¬ 
gilist, but is rather too beautiful, which, 
however, does not always follow, and there 
is lacking a little of the Irish in his compo¬ 
sition, though when put to the crowning 
test, he hangs on with bulldog tenacity, lack¬ 
ing only the resourcefulness of the small- 
mouth black bass, the generally recognized 
champion of finny warriors, and of whom 
I can well believe that, inch for inch and 
pound for pound, he is the gamest fish that 
swims. He takes the fly readily; and then 
watch out, for he performs aplenty, has 
a genius for battle fairly dazzling, and will 
test your skill and tackle to the uttermost; 
for every moment he is fighting with a 
courage that is unshakable. 
T HE bass has no elaborately planned 
program, and does not fight in ac¬ 
cordance with recognized rules. He 
makes his own rules and regulations, ap¬ 
plying them as conditions arise; and not 
even momentarily can you relax vigilance, 
else woe betide you; for he is master of 
By E. E. MILLARD 
every curve, drop and up-shoot, and needs 
no coaching. He loves a feast or a fight, 
and is never conquered until his neck is 
broken. He does not feed as much on the 
surface, and fly-fishing for him is to some 
extent more difficult, as the hooks must be 
submerged a little, and that, in connection 
E. E. Millard, 
Author of “Days on the Nepigon” 
HE author of this paper has 
been a member of the Forest 
and Stream family of nature lovers 
for many years. He has studied the 
black bass and the trout in many 
H'aters and we believe that our read¬ 
ers will agree that no writer has 
ever set forth his observations with 
more clarity or greater individuality 
and charm. [Editors.] 
with the bony construction of his mouth, 
makes setting the steel more uncertain. 
He may be deceived for an instant, by 
adroitly placed hook and feathers, but after 
that understands his business, runs true to 
form, loves to surprise you, and fritters 
away no precious moments, for there is not 
a lazy hair in his head. He is the quintes¬ 
sence of fight, the personification of pluck, 
and for altitude and fight is in a class by 
himself, with movements copyrighted, and 
playing the game at ever}' stage for all it 
is worth. 
Perhaps one exception should be made, 
for from what I have read and been told, 
the ouananiche is quite as powerful a 
fighter and possesses higher acrobatic skill. 
Unfortunately I have not the pleasure of 
his acquaintance; don’t know him by sight, 
have never even dropped him a line. Oc¬ 
casionally I have had trout jump when the 
hook touched some exceedingly sensitive 
place, though strongly suspecting I was ma¬ 
terially abetting and encouraging the fish 
in so doing by assisting him toward the 
surface; but I have never noticed that it 
was a record breaking performance, and 
could never persuade myself that I was 
not an accessory to the crime. But I love 
to catch him, and have for lo, these sixty 
years or thereabouts, and still retain my 
boyish enthusiasm for his taking. 
The hooked trout rarely jumps. The 
bass will do so repeatedly; though our 
imperfectly regulated guess machinery 
stretches a twelve-inch leap to two or three 
feet. Two feet is exceedingly rare. Pos¬ 
sibly I have seen a bass jump so high, but 
I can submit no verifying documents. 
Fishing one afternoon above Island Port¬ 
age, and having landed a couple of trout, 
I hooked a third one, and concluding to 
make him come up into daylight, inspect 
the scenery and become acquainted, forced 
the fight, hurrying him along, and when 
he was a few feet from the canoe, I lift¬ 
ing on him as much as the tackle would 
sustain, he made his leap. Andre, the 
canoeman, surprised at the unwonted pro¬ 
ceeding, muttered a very emphatic “Ugh!” 
imagining a few drops of water' were 
spilled over his face. 
A bass under like circumstances would 
have been in the air repeatedly, perhaps 
floundered into the canoe, carrying hostili¬ 
ties into the enemy’s camp, and guarantee¬ 
ing more thrills to the minute than all the 
trout in »the Nepigon. thrilling as they are. 
His reputation as a fighter is firmly estab¬ 
lished, and there will be little criticism of 
his performance by the angler who has 
caught both bass and trout. With fair and 
proper tackle, the trout may be depended 
upon to accommodate you with a lively 
battle, yet he had better take several thinks 
and gurgle his prayers before joining issue 
with the small-mouth black bass. 
A man cannot, by taking thought, add a 
cubit nor even an inch to his height; but 
what he oannot add quicker than thought 
to the dimensions of a trout would beggar 
description. On the Nepigon there is no 
occasion for exaggeration; these colossal 
monsters speak for themselves and leave 
you with a clear conscience (if you insist 
upon it and care for that sort of thing). 
I T is not altogether fly-fishing there. In¬ 
deed, at times it is largely bait, at other 
times both fly and bait. Late in the sea¬ 
son fly-fishing reaches its perfection; and 
that most graceful and artistic style of 
angling is infinitely preferable to all other 
methods, gripping and holding more effect¬ 
ively. Still there are occasional days and 
(continued on page 506) 
