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Forest and Stream Letters 
Lad Lands Large Channel Bass 
and Shark 
DEAR ForEST & STREAM: 
UMMER HAVEN, twenty miles 
south of St. Augustine, on the 
Matansas. River, is, I think, the best 
fishing place on the east coast of Flor- 
ida. We made atrip there recently and 
the channel bass in the photo was taken 
at that time. 
The fish had been striking slowly and 
they were mostly small ones, but we 
were determined to go, nevertheless. 
August 16th dawned fair and hav- 
ing put the kicker on the boat, we were 
soon on our way to the inlet. The water 
was smooth and it was a fine day for 
bass. For a while we fished for sheeps- 
head with marked success, then tiring 
of the sport, we changed our rigging for 
bass tackle. We use mullet for bait 
when bass fishing. For a half hour 
we had no results, so we moved our 
boat to another position. In a few 
minutes father hooked a small one of 
about ten pounds weight. 
This encouraged us greatly, for we 
knew that the fish were about. Soon it 
was my turn; I had a hard strike, fol- 
lowed by a seventy-five yard rush, then 
a sulking spell at the bottom. 
recovering a few yards of line, the fish 
OF ete 
Master Shear with his 18-pound channel 
bass 
After ° 

made three successive rushes, but he 
was tiring (so was I), and finally I got 
him up to the boat where he was gaffed. 
Eighteen pounds of fighting channel 
bass! I raised a yell that must have 
been heard at Summer Haven two miles 
away. “Let’s go right home and weigh 
him. I’ll bet he weighs one hundred 
pounds,” I said. Don’t you think that’s 
a good catch for a ten year old boy? 
I used a bamboo rod, Atlantic free 
spool reel and Joseph Jefferson line. 
JEROME S. SHEAR, 
Palm Beach, Florida. 
Selecting the Pup 
DEAR ForEST & STREAM: 
I ONCE read that the best puppies 
to select from a litter were those 
showing a tendency to stand the barn- 
yard fowl or chicken. This is all right 
if the pup hunts the chicken in long 
grass and stands, for he is then using 
his nose as he would if hunting birds, 
but if he gets in the habit of standing 
about the barn and around the yard, 
he is standing by sight and not smell 
and so gets in the habit of standing by 
sight, and when he goes afield, hunts by 
sight and not by scent; not only will 
he do this, but nine times out of ten 
he will not hunt at all, but hangs to 
your heel, watching for an opportunity 
to run back to the house and stand 
chickens, and if you are not there to 
control him, is apt to kill two or three of 
your best and become a chicken killer, 
which is one of the hardest habits to 
overcome in a dog. In trying to break 
him you are apt to cower and intimi- 
date him. And if you ever get him to 
hunt ‘birds, and stand, the first gun 
fired over him will start him for home, 
where he is apt to amuse himself kill- 
ing chickens. 
I have four dogs all of the same lit- 
ter. Two of them I selected because 
they -resembled their grand sire and 
grand uncle, both of which were fine 
dogs. 
chickens as soon as they were able to 
run about the yard and had a mania 
for it. The other two paid very little 
attention to chickens and never stood 

These puppies started standing - 


Shark taken by the hand-line method 
them, but would back the other dogs 
when they saw them standing. 
When the four puppies were old 
enough to follow afield, I took them out 
with their mother; the two which had 
taken very little notice of chickens soon 
started in to hunt, ranged nicely, found 
their birds, stood and backed in good 
form. And before they were five 
months old I had killed a number of 
birds over them. The chicken-standing 
pups hung to heel, showed no inclina- 
tion to hunt but watched every op- 
portunity to sneak off and return to the 
house to stand chickens. These two dogs 
are now entering their fourth season 
in the field and up to now, I have been 
able to do very little with them. I 
have stopped them standing chickens, 
and they use their nose a little better 
(both have good noses); they have 
stood and backed, but as soon as the 
gun goes off they are not there. 
I have broken a good many gun-shy 
dogs but am afraid these are beyond 
me. I am considered a very patient 
man but am afraid if I handle these 
two dogs much longer my tolerance 
will be exhausted. 
Gro. H. Ross, 
Gloucester C., Va. 
Page 670 
