Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others

by James A. Henshall

The bait should be from one to three feet above the bottom, and should be kept in motion. Even crab bait should not be allowed to lie on the bottom, as some anglers advise. To maintain the proper position and depth of the bait the angler may employ a float, with or without a sinker, as the exigencies or conditions demand.

Very often hand-lines or stiff cane poles are used in estuary fishing, and the bass, even when of several pounds in weight, are yanked out of the water into the boat at once. But with the tackle recommended above the pleasure of the angler is enhanced, and the fish given a chance for his life in the brief struggle that follows.

In trolling for fish of from three to ten pounds a natural bamboo rod, eight or nine feet long, answers well with one hundred yards of braided linen line, size E or F, and Sproat hooks No. 2-0 to 3-0 on gut snells. Where the bass run larger, two hundred feet of line, size E, with hooks Nos. 5-0 to 6-0 may be required, also a heavier rod. The baits for trolling are bloodworms of large size, a minnow hooked through the lips, the natural squid or an eel-tail; also the artificial squid of bone or block tin, or a trolling-spoon or spinner with a single hook. When the spoon or artificial squid is used it is not necessary or advisable to add sandworms or other natural bait, as is often done. Employ one or the other, but never both in combination. The artificial baits are sufficiently attractive in themselves, and the additions mentioned do not enhance their effectiveness. The boat should be rowed alongshore, or over rocky reefs or shoals, and about the eddies of rock pools. As the fish always hooks itself in trolling, it only remains for the angler to play and land his quarry in good form, always having a large landing-net or gaff in the boat.

Casting menhaden bait from the rocky shores of the coast requires tools and tackle of great excellence and strength, as the largest bass are taken in this way. The most approved rod is a first-class split-bamboo, eight or eight and one-half feet long, and weighing from twelve to sixteen ounces. A more serviceable rod, that is, one that will admit of harder usage, is made of greenheart, lancewood, or bethabara, of the same length, but somewhat heavier. A cheaper rod, but one that will give good satisfaction, and withal is lighter than a wooden rod, is made of natural male Calcutta bamboo, and is known as a "chum" rod. Rods of eight or eight and one-half feet in length should be made in two or three pieces, or if not exceeding seven and one-half feet may be made of one six-foot piece with a handle of eighteen inches. They should have double bell-mouth guides and funnel top. The more expensive rods should have the guides, or at least the funnel top, lined with agate.

The reel must be a first-class multiplier, made expressly for surf-fishing, with jewelled or steel bearings, with a capacity of two hundred yards of from twelve to eighteen-thread Cuttyhunk line. The hooks should be knobbed Sproat or O'Shaughnessy, Nos. 5-0 to 7-0, and attached to the line by two half-hitches, the loose end turned up and secured by another half-hitch. A long-handled gaff-hook of good steel and very sharp is indispensable. A chum knife and spoon are also necessary, and a woollen thumb-stall will be needed for thumbing the reel, or a piece of leather may be affixed to one of its bars as a brake.

The bait for casting may be the tail of a lobster, cleaned of every vestige of shell, but menhaden bait is generally used. After scaling the fish, a slice of several inches is cut from its side, tail end, and scored on the flesh side longitudinally with a sharp knife, to admit of its being more readily folded along the hook, which it should envelop completely. The small end of the bait is affixed to the head of the hook by a half-hitch or two, its bend and barb being concealed by the broader end of the bait. This is the conventional method of baiting, though I have had good success in more southern waters by using an entire bait of mullet or other silvery fish, five or six inches in length, and hooked through the lips.

The residue of the menhaden, after the baits are cut off, is chopped fine, and is known as "chum." This is thrown in the water to attract the bass. It is called "chumming," and causes an oily "slick" that spreads over the surface for a long distance. The pieces of cut fish thrown in are soon swallowed by scup, cunners, bass, and other fishes, leaving nothing but the oily slick on the surface. The bluefish, being a surface feeder, is probably attracted by the slick, but it is questionable if it is noticed by the striped-bass, a bottom and mid-water feeder. And even if the common belief were true, it is not likely that the bass would be tolled directly toward the angler through a slick covering many acres. The real attraction is in the chopped menhaden that sinks below the surface.

Casting the menhaden is quite an art. It is somewhat in the nature of casting a minnow for black-bass as described on a previous page, though the rod is a two-handed one and the bait much heavier. The bait is reeled up to within a foot or two of the rod tip, and the rod grasped by both hands, one just above and one below the reel, with the thumb of the lower hand resting on the spool of the reel, and protected by a woollen or leather thumb-stall. With the rod at one side, it is given a preliminary whirl, or swing or two, and the bait cast, underhand, much like striking at a hip-high or shoulder-high ball with a bat. The cast is made from either side, and while some anglers place the right hand below in casting from both sides, it is not the best way. In casting from the right side the left hand should be below, and the reel controlled by the left thumb; while in casting from the left side the right hand should be below. The thumb should maintain a gentle and uniform pressure on the spool as it revolves, to prevent backlashing, and by a stronger pressure stop the revolution of the spool as the bait reaches the water.

As long a cast is made as possible, and when the bait settles it should be reeled in again very slowly and the cast repeated until the bait is taken by a bass. When the water is very rough, so as to churn the bait and keep it in constant motion, fewer casts are necessary, as the bait can be left in the water for a longer time before making a new cast. When the fish is hooked and starts on his initial rush, line should be given, the thumb always on the spool to check him when it can be done without endangering the tackle. His first rush will probably be his strongest, and he must then be killed on the rod and reeled in to the gaffer. During the struggle of playing the fish, great care must be observed to prevent the cutting or chafing of the line against sharp rocks, and to keep the fish away from weeds, timbers, or other obstructions.

As the bass may weigh anywhere from ten to fifty pounds, the utmost skill and precaution are necessary to land him safely. Very often the angler has not only to contend with the fish, but with the strength and undertow of the tide and the tossing of breakers—factors that are by no means to be despised or neglected. But once fairly gaffed, the angler may feast his eyes on the grand fish, weighing, perhaps, thirty pounds or more, and congratulate himself on a great achievement.