Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1909-03-18
FROG NOT
GOOD BAIT
Why Bailey Failed to Catch
the Bass

on nand IN demonstrating how much
he knows about the angling art. He
finds the greatest pleasure in casting
the Elusive fly that now and then
tempts some incautious black bass to
its undoing
The drought, now partially disturbed
by recent falls of rain, greatly inter-
fered with Mr.. Bailey's indulgence in
the pastime, there being more work in
it than he could find water sufficient
to compensate for, the walking mile
or two between pools and ripples on
the intervening spaces of dry and
stony river bed being eXasperating as
we'll.
IF some one would only get up an
attachment to rod that would throw
the fly and land the fish, said he, in
contemplative mood, as he mopped his
brow and gazed down the river a mile
at a spash of water almost boiling in
the sun, "he would make an independ-
ent fortune. I'd get one right away
and go out somewhere and get a
whole lot of big bass right away"
Attachment be swizzled,' said Dea-
con Bird Galloway, who fishes some
himself nights for bullheads. why
don't you put good-sized dobber
on your line. get some nice young
frogs for bait and go out and still-fsh
for your bass? With that tackle and
bait you can just sit down in the shade
and read novels while you wait for
EN- to lure the bass up to snatch the
handicapped frog. That is, if you
want to keep on sticking to bass fish
Ing. If you want to have some real
fishing, though, get some night walk
Ing fish worms and come along with
me tonight and haul in bullheads."
Angler Bailey doesn't believe In bait
fishing, and he scorns bullheads, but
be did want some bass, so he said he
would give the frog and dobber scheme
chance. He gave boy a quarter to
get him a couple Of dozen young
frogs. They We're nice little green fell
lows, two inches long. He bought the
biggest dobber he could find.
1t had a goose quill through it and
was all painted green, green as the
frogs We're. A dobber is a pear
shaped piece of light wood that floats
In the water, the line passing through
the quill. The dobber keeps the bait
In proper position in the water and
down it goes out of sight when fish
seizes the bait and rushes away
with it,
Mr.. Bailey shouldered his tish-pole
and went down to the river, found a
big area of water, sat down in the
shade of a tree put a lively frog care
fully on his hook and chucked the bait
In the water. The frog Went to the
bottom or as near it as the dobber
would let it, and the dobber looked
like a miniature green island in the
water
The man who still fishes for bass
Or any other fish must be We'll stocked
with patience. 1t may be an hour be-
fore a fish inclined to take the risk of
the bait comes along to take it, but
the angler is in constant and pleasur-
able expectation OF any moment see
ing the dobber go under, and that sus-
tains him during the wait. Three bites
an hour may be d safe estimate to put
on the results of the average efforts
of the still fisherman and his bait but
sometimes they come much faster.
Half an hour Went by No bite had
come to patient Mr. Bailey A small
boy standing up to his knees in the
water on the opposite side of that pool.
was pulling in a bass every ten min.
utes. Mr. Bailey hailed him as to his
bait, intending to bride the urchin into
supplying him with some of the same
kind
What are you fishing with, Bub?"
Bailey asked
Frogs the boy yelled back as
soon as he had safely landed another
big bass he had hooked
Angler Bailey thought it was gum
basted funny that he didn't get any
bites, but he didn't believe in pulling
up his hook every little while to see
what was the matter, and so he sat
and waited
IN get a whalloper when one does
grab that bait" said he. "A four
FOUNDER, | shouldn't wonder"
The sun was getting well along be-
hind the hills over in the west Bailey
began to show that he was disguised
with this bait fishing for bass. The
boy had caught all the bass he wanted
and gone home. Supper time was
drawing nigh.
''Jeeswizzled if I'm going to lose my
supper for all the bass there is be-
tween here and Havre de Grace" said
he, four-pounders and all,
Then he got up and pulled in his
line When he lifted the big green
dobber from the water he Was amazed
to see no line hanging beneath It,
Then a second later it was wonder
that the green dobber and everything
else within hearing of that spot didn't
turn blue. Mr.. Bailey was emitting
language.
Costly perched on the big green
dobber, nesting against the quill, sat
the little green frog. The little green
frog had become tired. too, waiting for
a fish to come along and take if and