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782 ILLUSTRATED WORLD
HE GOES
patent take-down reel, weighing 7 ounces
and costing six dollars. You'll want to
see how it works anyhow and you can
take care of it after you abuse it. Later
you'll sniff at one costing less than
fifteen, but just the same this one is
plenty good.
"Bass fishermen get absolutely violent
on the subject of baits. The first bait I
ever used was a live frog, and next, a
piece of pork rind, but now the artificial
baits are coming more and more into
fashion. Look at this one. Looks like
the bone handle of a shaving brush but
longer, with two big hooks dangling at
the back end and five little red dots
painted on the bow. Here's another, in
appearance nothing but a doll's size flatiron
painted white on the bottom and
having a couple of hooks aft. Yet this
thing catches oodles of bass—while
you're right in your conclusion that the
fish that would bite on such a contrivance
ought to have his head examined.
"Bass baits are divided roughly into
surface or floating baits and sinking or
underwater. The old and historic baits
are the live frog and the pork rind. The
live bait—frog and minnow—are often
the last resort in the hot days of summer
when old prize-fighter bass seeks the
deep holes and loses his pep and refuses
to strike at the former attractive red and
green and white and splashing lures.
The floating lures, however, are the
easiest for you to handle because they
stay on top the water and hold the
line on top while you're getting switched
around and ready to reel in instead of
sinking to the bottom and dating up
some old snag or collection of weeds for
the rest of the day.
"The bass has a big mouth and is a
big shouldered, powerful customer.
Hooks, for him, are large, No. 5 or still
larger, against 8 and 10 for trout. We'll
put in a few flies to be used with the
trout rod for Brother Bass, a dozen made
up of Scarlet Ibis, Royal Coachman,
Silver Doctor, and Grizzly King. You'll
A-FISHING
(Continued j rom page 130)
probably use bait most of the time, but
the fly way of enticing Mr. Bass into your
parlor is becoming more and more popular.
Outside of the flies -and according
to his mood and the time of the year
and water conditions, the bass will strike
live bait, from mice and frogs and minnows
to crawfish ; artificial minnows that
are as big as some of the trout you'll
catch; ungodly shaped things like the
crab wriggler and the Maxixe and the
plug: preserved natural baits—see 'em
in these jars like the famous 57 varieties of
pickle—such as pickled pork rind ; pickled
frogs, crawfish, and minnows ; fresh pork
rind, cut minnow shape; spoons, these
flashing spoonshaped bits of nickel plate
and copper : rubber frogs and minnows
and crawfish and helgramites, and
crosses between the spoon and the fly.
Also, some incurable designed an artificial
pork rind, made of cork, with red
felt wings and tail—a combination
submarine and aeroplane bait—to catch
the bass either through deceiving him
into thinking it a fly, or a minnow—
which is the idea with pork rind.
"So I'll put you in a little of everything
to try at the advice of your accomplice
—a can of preserved minnows, others
of pork rind, crawfish and frogs, some
rainbow minnows, a couple of the Maxixe
dancing bass deceivers, and a line of
Jimheddon minnows including surface
and underwater standard sorts.
"If I knew where and when and in
what sort of water you were going to
fish, I could specialize a bit more, but
you'll try all these things sooner or later.
and not get a nibble at that at times.
I'll add a couple of spoons, and a pair
of the combination spoon-and-fly rigs.
which with a dozen or so plain hooks
for live bait, and some leaders, will let
you out, temporarily.
"And now, if you'll amble down this
way, I'll introduce you to Mr. Jones.
who'll rig up for you a correct line of
duds and take away any little money
you happen to have left."