Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-09-08
ANGLE IN THE LILY PADS.
The Place to Catch Bass at This Peri
cd of the Summer.


1t is the time of summer when the
bass fisherman is compelled to desert
the epen water of the lakes. Even
casting along the edges of the pads,
which reach out for fifty yards from
the shores, will not serve.
He may get the few fish which are
close to the edge, but by far the
greater number of them ale far back,
lying under the pads themselves, Of
ten many yards from open water.
The broad leaves of the lily are i'm
pervious to the suns rays, and one
object the fish have in mind is to keep
cool under them.
They get, however, a great deal of
food while still under their roofs and
watching, and the proof of it is. the
fact that they are under the pads,
not only in the heat of the day but
also at daybreak. A man now will
take three fish to one by fishing far
out in the pads instead of along the
edges, OF in unhampered water.
OF course there must DC good silk
line on the reel and the hook must be
NEEDLESS with heavy lead on the
shank The object of the lead is not
to lend weight to the east and SO
carry out the line, for the frog is
heavy enought for that, but to keep
the frog with its belly down when it
is being leeled in.
SO equipped, the angler will row or
push his boat three lengths into the
pads. They will hold it fast so that
no wind will drift it. There he must
cast over and beyond every space of
clear water two feet square within
reach and reel the frog gently toward
him.
1t will be siezed by lurking fish
as it crosses one of the little places
where the leaves are not. Often the
head of the fish will be seen as it
strikes upward.
An immediate attempt to sink in
the hook will be failure. The bass
has hold of only the rear part of the
frog, possibly only its legs or one of
| it's legs and must have time to get
the whole frog in his mouth. Three
seconds is not too long to wait.
A better way to tell is by the
length of line the fish carries out. 1t
should be permitted to take not less
than six feet Then with a short
sharp jerk the barb may be driven in
and the fight started.
The advantages are nearly all on
the side of the bass. The fish may be
under two pounds weight and easily
enough taken in the clear, but it is a
different matter to work in fifty feet
through lily stems and get it to the
| boats side.
Often it will take refuge behind
bunch of stems and then strong eff
fort to pull it through will tear out
the hook, or it has any number OF
chances to wrap the line about stem
and jerk loose. Lots of patience and
lots of skill are required, but the re-
suit is worth the outlay.
Many strikes can be obtained in
the lily pads now when not one may
be had further out in the lake, ard it
will be noticed at the camps that the
men who bring in the big strings are
the pad-ishers. Most guides dislike
to work in the pads, since moving
the boat around in them bears a con-
siderable resem blance to toll, but any
guide who SAYS that there are no fish
among the pads or that among the
pads is not the place to fish may be
set down as prevaricator for self
interest.
But two bats are valuable in pad
fishing, the frog and salt pork. Arti-
fetal bait is no good even with weed
less hooks and live minnow will not
last through three minutes OF drag
cling across the rough leaves. The
largest frogs may be used if desired,
as they strike on the pads and make
little fuss. Commonly they are
worthless, as the resultant splash in
the water scares every bass within
twenty yards. New York Sun,