Evening journal., 1903-06-26
PORK RIG FOR BASS
Il is Convenient and Effective in
June.

The very best rig for the taking OF bass
at this time OF year Will be found to be q
strip of pure white salt pork on single
hook of the Cincinnati bass PATTERN behind
a small spoon. Two inches above the spoon
a small snker should be attached OF either
the cylindrical or the dlpsy shape as the
bait of pork and spoon has not sufficient
weight 10 sink deeply enough when reeled
In.
A bait Of this kind VIII weigh nearly a
half ounce. which Is the regulation weight
for casting. This will take out from seven
ty-nve to a hundred feet Of line readily
and coming back through the water rapid
iy at from a foot to three feet below the
surface makes an exceedingly attractive
lure.
1t is a moot question among anglers us
to whether bass strike at the pork because
OF its color and shape, which make Il re-
semhie a minnow In motion, or because
Of the salt in the meat Probably both
causes have their effects.
The bass will not strike so readily az a.
strip Of bacon. though that is salt, but the
bacon is darker and by no means so con-
spicuous. They will not strike so readily
at a strip Of fresh pork fat, for though
that is white as snow it lacks salt.
There is one rule 20 be observed In cast
ing and reeing the pork strip. The badt
must be started back toward the boat OF
bank the moment II touches the water. 1t
must not be at rest for an instant.
The return impulse Is given It by the
anglers lifting the point of the rod by
two feet or so as soon as the bait strikes
the surface. BY the time the tip Of the
rod stops his reel is working so that the
bait comes in steadily.
Nearly always. II a bass strikes and is
missed a fresh mlnnow must besubstituted
for the one which has been mangled or has
been killed by the shock. II IS often nee
essary to remove the minnow which has
died from casting and put on a live one.
The minnow bucket must be kept supplied
with fresh water or pumped fun OF fresh
air at intervals.
The hands are continually wet from div
ing after minnows. On n raw spring day
this Is a serious inconvenience and means
chapped skin and chilblains.
Bass will strike at the pork strip I'm any
water and at any time when they will
strike at minnows Indeed they hit at It
only because they think It IS a minnow,
and they like the slight salty flavor which
the rat leaves in the water.
with one pork strip cut TO a length OF
three inches and quarter Of an inch wide
in the middle taperlng al both ends and
securely hooked. man may take a dozen
bass and be at no trouble in the way OF
renewing bait.
There are few bait-casters who will dis
pute the beauty Of the pork bait. Some tie
a bit Of red flannel TO IL OF sew red woollen
thread through 1t. but this is hardly neces-
sary when the spoon is used, as one side
OF the spoon is red. Certainly IT is not any
easier to handle or more cleanly or durable
than a phantom minnow or other form of
arthcial bait, but it Is more killing and it
can be had without trouble.
Black bass grow big and gamy in the
Saginaw river in Michigan, but the an
gler unacquainted with the peculiarities OF
that water might cast his flies all day and
never know from personal experience that
there was a bass anywhere IN the river.
The water Of Saginaw river IS deep and
very much discolored by the bark of the
logs of the endless professions OF pine
rafts that are run on the stream. White
fish I'm the Saginaw river would be white
fish only In name, for they would take on
the hue OF the pine-dyed waters, just as
brook trout in the hemlock-boardered
streams of Northern Pennsylvania are so
dark In color compared with their brethren
of the open woods streams that they are
like :, mulatto compared with a white per-
son.
There is only one way Of fy-fshing for
black bass on the Saginaw river that
proves successful. Large and gaudy flies
are required.
Three inches above the dropper n No.
split shot must be fastened as a sinker
The flies must be sunk almost as deep IN
the water as if the angler was using bait.
From that depth they must be trailed
smarty toward the surface. and when one
Of the big bass that lurk down there
strikes your fly. which will be so Otter
that you will be astonished says a New
Yorker who has had the experience, You
will be apt to say that you never had sporl
before fiy-fishing for black bass.
A person who thinks he isn't doing righ'
by himself II he fishes for black bass any
other way than with the fly ought to know
that there is fiy-nshing and fiy-iishing.
never knew It until tried this Michigan
method, AMI have used II with great sue
cess in Eastern waters where there were
conditions somewhat similar to those oi
the Saginaw river and where no one had
ever succeeded in taking black bass 10y
surface 1y-fshing.
A great many sportsmen frown upor
the sunken fly as vulgar in style and tS
be classed with trolling. but Il seems Z,
me that I would rather make a nice catci
by sinking my flies, even at the cost Of be
ling regarded as a coarse fisherman, than tS
dawdle them all day on the surface ant
never have a single bass give them atten.
ton.
"Ah. mel" sighed the lovelorn Mr.
r~,ll,..- ..r tnrca4 .,I fttf...l tfr,f, ,,v