September, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
535 
effort to haul in a six or eight pound carp 
would undoubtedly mean wrecked tackle 
and a lost fish. But the employment of a 
little patience and some skill should lead 
to a happier issue. 
In the spring, the humble worm is a tak¬ 
ing bait. The end of the hook should be 
kept covered. A generous “bunch” of 
worms should be strung on, with loose ends 
waving frantically to induce a bite. 
Carp are likely to be found on muddy 
bottom when feeding, though I have had 
success when the bottom was gravelly. 
Their usual method of feeding is to take up 
anything attractive-looking, chew it around 
awhile, swallow what is edible, and eject 
the rest. Vegetation, of one form or an¬ 
other, makes up a considerable part of their 
food during the warm months. 
In the summer, another form of bait is 
more suitable. Canned corn, strung, a ker¬ 
nel at a time, on the hook, is an appetizing 
morsel. Boiled potato, tied up in a piece 
of mosquito netting, is often effective. In 
the fall, the carp regains its taste for “fresh 
meat,” and will bite as readily on the 
worm as in the spring of the year. 
I know it is customary to consider still 
fishing rather tame,—hardly sport at all, in 
fact. The whipper of the rapid and the 
plug-caster alike tilt the nasal appendage 
at the thought. But some of my most 
interesting experiences have been gained 
while angling in this manner. 
I once found a place, by a steep bank, 
where a stump or two stood a foot or so 
under water. There were bushes and trees 
around, which helped to screen the angler’s 
person. For some reason or other, carp 
and other fish seemed to make this spot 
a favorite haunt. I rarely cast in here with¬ 
out results. One morning, in October, as 
I sat, rod in hand, two large black bass 
swam slowly by. They were very deliberate 
in their actions, turning aside to examine 
anything which attracted their attention. 
Small objects were picked up from the 
bottom, chewed critically, and then swal¬ 
lowed or ejected, as they were acceptable 
or not. They paid not the slightest atten¬ 
tion to my bait, however, though it was in 
plain sight. This was one of the few in¬ 
teresting opportunities I have had to ob¬ 
serve and study fish when unfrightened and 
evidently acting out their natural selves. 
C ARP have one habit which is rather 
peculiar. My attention was first 
drawn to it by the appearance of what 
seemed to be an area of broken water, 
caused by small fish leaping. This hap¬ 
pened when there was no air stirring, and 
the surface of the water was otherwise as 
smooth as glass. As it drew slowly nearer, 
I was surprised to see that the appearance 
was caused by a school of carp, literally 
hundreds of them, close together, “drink¬ 
ing” air. I had seen the domesticated fish 
in the aquarium act in this way, but had 
never supposed that their wild kindred con¬ 
ducted themselves in a similar manner, as 
I had understood that insufficiently aerated 
water caused this phenomenon in the aqua¬ 
rium. I have noticed this sight often since, 
and have found it invariably an entertain¬ 
ing one. I hardly dare to say how large 
fish I have seen at such times, all swim¬ 
ming fearlessly about, until a sudden move¬ 
ment caused their disappearance with a re¬ 
sounding splash; and the water was left 
so still that not a trace of the restless 
myriads of fish remained. 
B UT the most interesting phase of the 
carp’s history is yet to be told—the 
eating. The secret of the toothsome- 
ness of this fish depends largely upon the 
method of cleaning it. The fish should be 
skinned, not scaled. Then cut off the fins, 
clean out the inside, and cut the skin 
through to the flesh around the body just 
back of the head. Divide the skin of the 
back from the back fin to the head. Work 
the skin up so that a good grasp may be 
obtained, grip the body firmly, and pull one 
side of the skin down to the tail. Then 
remove the skin of the other side in a simi¬ 
lar manner. If the carp is large, cut down 
T HERE come times, from about the 
fag-end of solar summer to the first 
two weeks in autumn, when large and 
small mouth black bass, pickerel and pike 
take a notion to your friend, the frog. 
Then it is that the fisherman develops a 
“crick in the back” from going about 
stooped over in the endeavor to capture 
small frogs or else, to relieve the “crick,” 
goes about pond, lake or river margins on 
hands and knees, grabbing up tufts of 
grass, fern rootlets, eel grass in very low 
water—a sight for gods and men. Once 
in a while when he grabs he gets a frog 
with the debris. Not often. 
Then it is that the frog takes on the ap¬ 
pearance of a Mephistopheles, becomes 
more agile than the chamois, more wicked 
than agile. For even when captured and 
placed in the bait receptacle he is apt to 
remain there, his legs drawn up, his eyes 
fixed on the place of egress and to leap 
out with determined accuracy as another 
victim is being introduced into the Bas¬ 
tille. When a man has stood with his safe¬ 
ty valve about to pop, while a friend has 
been catching fish with frogs and seen half 
his own quota of leapers go gaily free, 
following his error in leaving the cover 
of his frog box ajar, he is apt to revert to 
first principles and say things that no min¬ 
ister’s son is supposed even to think of. 
Yet it is possible to capture all the frogs 
you want, with less labor than is common¬ 
ly supposed to go with frog catching, and 
to handle them afterwards so that none 
will escape and to make io frogs do the 
work on the hook that 50 do for those who 
do not know how to handle them after 
they are placed in the bait box. 
At the outset, let me make it plain that 
I do not think it fair for a fisherman to 
take the bullfrogs ( Rana Catesbiana ) for 
bait in localities where these splendid 
batrachians are at all scarce. The market 
hunter, the careless small boy with his 
small bore rifle, will thin them out more 
than enough. And there are always so 
many other—and better—bait frogs, that 
unless one is far from centers of popula- 
through the ribs on both sides of the back¬ 
bone, which may be removed. This opera¬ 
tion will leave two slabs of meat, which 
should be soaked in moderately strong 
brine for about twenty-four hours. This 
firms the flesh and removes any objection¬ 
able flavor. 
Cooking may be done in a variety of 
fashions. Roll in flour and fry until brown. 
Roll in corn meal and cook while immersed 
in boiling' fat. Plank and bake like shad. 
Or, perhaps best of all, make a dressing as 
for fowl, stuff the fish, and bake. This last 
method is said to be responsible for the 
following recipe by a Frenchman. “Tak’ 
a nice feesh, five or six pounds. Cut off de 
head and tail; t’row de res away. Stuff 
him; put him in de oven and bak’ him. I 
jes’ soon have chicken as have it.” 
tion, one had better let the bullfrog’s small 
brothers and sisters alone. The Southern 
bullfrog ( Rana Grylio ) is included in this 
prohibitive hint, also Rana Virgatipes of 
New Jersey. These two are not abundant 
species at best. 
For my part, I prefer small leopard 
frogs ( Rana Pipiens) to any other for 
bait purposes, although any frog will do 
when the fish want frogs and no leopard 
frogs are in sight. The pickerel frog 
(Rana Palustris) is a fine bait frog, and 
often is used for bait under the delusion 
that he is a leopard frog, as -the adult of 
this species might easily be mistaken for 
the young of the leopard frog, or one that 
is only half grown. 
T HE reason why fish turn frog-ward in 
late summer and early autumn is 
plain if you will consider that it is 
in those fruitful weeks that the tadpoles, 
having dropped their tails and ceased to 
use their gills some time before, and edged 
up the margins of the watercourses, lakes, 
ponds, and swamps, are then ready to be¬ 
come land creatures for a time. Then you 
will find the small frogs far from water, 
hopping through the low grasses and reeds, 
eagerly in search of insects—grasshoppers 
mostly; also you will find them paddling 
about in the edges of the water or ventur¬ 
ing across little inlets of lakes or on the 
pools of streams, happy in their first swim 
on top of the water, after months spent 
under the surface as tadpoles. 
Now let us go frog hunting. The tools? 
1. A net made of tough cord, very small 
mesh, set onto a handle about a yard long. 
The net to be light, the handle light, the 
loop the net is set on strong and springy. 
Ready made nets suitable may often be 
found in stores that sell goldfish, although 
you may have to put a longer handle on 
such a net than it will have when you pur¬ 
chase it. 2. A frog box made of light, 
strong wood. Inside dimensions about 
12x9x9. Part of each end to be screened 
with brass wire cloth, for ventilation. A 
(continued on page 557) 
YOUR FRIEND THE FROG 
IN MID-SUMMER HE IS AN EASILY OBTAINED AND 
TEMPTING BAIT FOR BASS, PICKEREL AND PIKE 
By GEORGE GILBERT 
