' 
quite high and steep, forming a rocky, 
wooded cliff, where the snowy dogwood 
blossoms and the pink tassels of the 
redbud lit up the dark mass of foliage 
which was yet in shadow; for the sun 
was just peeping curiously over the 
top of the cliff, and shining full in 
their faces—for prudent anglers al¬ 
ways fish toward the sun, so that their 
shadows are cast behind them. 
“Now,” said the Professor, as he 
waded out into the stream some 
fifty feet above the rocky ledge, 
“the bass have left the cool depths 
beside the rock and are on the 
riffle, or just below it, enjoying 
the welcome rays of the sun while 
waiting for a stray minnow or 
craw-fish for breakfast. I’ll drop 
them a line.” 
So saying, he began casting, 
lengthening his line at each cast,— 
the line, leader, and flies follow¬ 
ing the impulse of the flexible rod 
in graceful curves, now projected 
forward, now unfolding behind 
him,—until the flies, almost touch¬ 
ing the water full seventy feet in 
his rear, were, by a slight turn of 
the wrist and fore-arm and ap¬ 
parently without an effort, cast a 
like distance in front, where they 
dropped gently and without the 
least splash 
continued, as he took the rod in his 
left hand and applied his right to the 
reel, the bass, in the meantime, having 
headed up-stream to the deeper water 
beside the rock. 
“No, no, my fine fellow, that will 
never do,” said he, as he brought the 
full strain of the fish on the rod by 
turning the latter over his shoulder 
and advancing the butt toward the 
struggling bass, which had made a des- 
.• r ' \ 's’- 
THE CLEAN LEAP OF THE SMALL-MOUTH 
just on the 
lower edge of 
the rift. Im¬ 
mediately the 
swirl of a bass 
was seen near 
the dropper- 
fly; the Pro¬ 
fessor struck 
lightly, but 
missed it, for 
he was taken 
somewhat un- 
a w a r e s and 
failed to strike 
quickly 
enough. 
Throwing his 
line behind 
him, he made 
another cast, 
the flies drop¬ 
ping, if pos¬ 
sible, more 
lightly than 
before, and 
with a some¬ 
what straight- 
er and tighter 
line. 
THE HEAVIER SWIRL OF THE LARGE-MOUTH 
feet into the air, shaking his head vio¬ 
lently in the endeavor to dislodge the 
hook, and as he fell back with a loud 
splash he dropped upon the line, by 
which maneuver he would have suc¬ 
ceeded in tearing out the hook had the 
line still been taut; but the Professor 
was perfectly familiar with this trick, 
and had slackened the line by lowering 
the tip of the rod as the bass fell 
back, but instantly resumed its tension 
by again raising the tip when the 
fish regained his element. As the 
Professor slowly reeled the line, 
the bass dashed hither and yon at 
the end of his tether, but all the 
time working up-stream and to¬ 
ward the rod. Then he was sud¬ 
denly seized by an impulse to 
make for the bottom, to hide under 
a rock, or mayhap dislodge the 
barb or foul the line by nosing 
against a stone or snag—but not 
to sulk; for be it known a black 
bass never sulks, as the salmon 
does, by settling motionless and 
stubbornly on the bottom when he 
finds his efforts to escape are 
foiled. The bass resists and strug¬ 
gles to the last gasp, unless he 
can wedge himself beneath a rock 
or among the weeds, where he will 
work the hook out at his leisure. 
The Professor, 
“I have him!” he exclaimed, as a 
bass rose and snapped the stretcher-fly 
before it fully settled on the water. 
“He hooked himself that time, the line 
being perfectly taut. He’s not a large 
one, though he gives good play,” he 
perate ana quick dash to get under the 
rock when he found himself in deep 
water. This “giving the butt,” as it 
is technically termed, brought him to 
the surface again, when he instantly 
changed his tactics by springing two 
keeping the 
line constantly 
taut and the 
rod well up, 
thereby main- 
t a i n i n g a 
springy arch, 
soon reeled 
the bass with¬ 
in a few feet, 
when he put 
the landing- 
net under him. 
Then address¬ 
ing Ignatius, 
he said: 
“The hu¬ 
mane angler 
always kills 
his fish as 
soon as caught 
b y severing 
the spinal cord 
at the neck 
with a sharp- 
pointed knife, 
b y breaking 
the neck, or by 
a smart blow 
on the head. 
Then raising the gill-cover, he bleeds 
the fish by puncturing a large venous 
sinus, which shows as a dark space 
nearly opposite the pectoral fin. Killing 
and bleeding a fish is not only a merci- 
(Continued on page 316) 
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