The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-04-29
HOOK WITH PROPER BAIT.

We sit here all pulled up with pride.
For we are going to talk about fish
and fishermen and never a single al
fusion Will we make to Izaak Walton
We are not going to call him gentle
IZaak. We are not going to mention
his "Compleat Angler" Wherefore
We are monstrously pulled with pride,
and SNUG Withal, well knowing that
virtue is it's own reward and that
bread cast upon the waters Will return
after many days.
These are the fishing days, the gen
tie spring days, the growing days, the
balmy blissfuI days when the sun is
just right and the earth seems to have
reached the very limit. Man aspires.
He would with nature sweet COM
mune. Accordingly, he digs bait and
departs on a fishing trip.
Let US begin at the beginning. Let
US see, how do the Latinists express
it? Er--ah, well, never mind. Let
us begin a the beginning. What is
bait and how should it be digged?
1t is hard to define bait, other than
as an accessory to fishing. The exact
significance of the term finds different
constructions with different scholars.
bait-som ething that the fishes can
nibble with comfort and without dis
turbing the philosophical thoughts
that fill the isherman's Inino. Others
like a hot far reaching bait that will
make a three ounce sinner look like
a three pound bass. The bait, in other
words, depends upon the Temperament
of the fisherman, but there is one fixed
essential to a successful fishing trip:
No matter whether the bait be carried
in cases, bottles or wicker covered
jugs, it should be digged the night be-
fore and carefully packed away. Then
it will be ready the next morning, and
the impatient fisherman will not be
obliged to hang around town waiting
for a place to open where bait is sold.
The hour of departure for a fishing
fT-iT1 ic tn lrir
sideration. Here again the import
ance of the bait shows itself. If the
fisherman is member of a church,
he should either charter a commits
sary wagon to precede him with the
bait or else he should leave town be-
fore sunrise. This will tend to de-
crease scandal in the neighborhood,
and scandal is always a thing to be
carefully avoided. But if the bait is
not bulky, and can be hidden under
the seat of the buggy, the fisherman
/ should leave town at an hour when he
may expect to meet his less fortunate
/ brethren going to work.
We have now arrived at the IA
miliar old fishing bank. We have
caught our Welsh hare and now we
will cook him. What is the best man
ner of using the bait?
! Authorities differ.
! It has been claimed (and not with
out some appearance of reason) that
4 it is better to use the bait in small
and steady quantities. 1t is said that
this Will best produce that mellow
and genial atmosphere so necessary
for scientific fishing. On the other
hand, some experts assert that the
best results can be attained by using
the bait in large units. The biggest
fish are hooked under these circum-
stances, and although it is true that
/ they invariably get away after they
/ have been hooked, that is always the
fault of d defective hook, and is by
no means the result of poor fishing.
| For Ourself. We generally use the bait
whenever the situation seems to de-
! instinctively tell when that time has
/ come.
We are now fishing The butt of our
pole is stuck under an old root and the
| tip of the pole is given the necessary
/ elevation by means of a Y-shaped twig
| stuck in the dirt at the waters edge.
| Our Sinker line passes over a conveai-
/ ent bush. We must now wait for the
/ fish. Meanwhile, we lie indolently on
/ our back with protecting arm
i around the bait, so that the fish will
not climb UP out of the water and
/ carry it away. and there we reflect
/ We think of the fish stories that we
4 shall have to hear when we reach
Il town again. We smile and (after Us
Il ing the baft) we determine to make VI
a fish story or two for our personal
I use Let US see. Let us see
4 Wei, sir, a few weeks ago we went
4 up to Deep Hole to catch a mess Of
trout. Well, sir. we fished and fshed
but they simply would not bite, Well
sir, we had heard it said how you
could catch a trout by tickling it, &C