The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-05-19
BASS IN STREAMS.


ute or "gamest fish of fresh water
For his size and weight he puts up as
shappy tight as any fisherman could
WISH for. Take a small-mouth bass
IN swift-running stream and it will
De case Of matching your knowledge
OF the hshIng game with his keenly
developed instinct, and at that, you
have to keep your eyes open or he will
slip one over on you and break for
other waters.
AS to main strength the bass, for it's
size, carries larger package Of that
stuff than any other fish. Often when
hooked it will plunge to the bottom
and stick there to a fare-you-well.
Nothing can bulge him except your
strength against his husky muscular
development, and this puts a heavy
strain on your tackle that often shows
up weak point in your equipment
and it's ''good-by" bass. At times you
will think that the bass has edged into
a rocky crevice and has propped his
strong fms against the sides to give
! him leverage, and believe me he has
sense enough to do it. He is wise
enough to dart around submerged
rocks and saw line or gut leader on
the ragged edges and make his get
away.
Gre Of His Many Tricks.
One of his stock tricks Is to watch
your line and the moment he gets q
little slack, up out of the water he
jumps and gives a shake that would
make fair-sized "muskie" turn green
with envy. This is not merely q
shake of the head as practiced by
other game fish, but a strong jerky
shake that brings into play all tho
muscles of his body. He does not stop
at one jump, but will leap repeatedly
into the air, each time giving a mas
ter shake Of his husky body. After
the first leap you may think you have
lost him and start Keeling in, when 20
feet away from his first flop up he
comes again. This is his method of
showing an amateur how a well de-
veloped bass loosens a hook from his
mouth, and unless you reel in that
slack mighty quick, Buck, he will
sure show you.
On His Way Upstream.
The bass is always on the move up
stream, which is likely caused by the
scarcity of natural food in the lower
waters. He has no love for rapids or
rifles and is seldom if ever found in
them, but in the quieter waters at the
lower end of a rapids or in the eddie
on either side he Is right at home Al
though he does not like the rougher.
swifter waters Of the rapids and rifles,
he will often dash into their frothy
edge in pursuit Of minnows, returning
at once to the quieter water. The bass
will also dash into very shallow water
after some of the small fry. often I'm
water so low that his dorsal fin will
be entirely out of the water, returning.
however. instantly to the deeper water
with his catch. In his upstream mi
grafton he will often loaf in pools be-
ow the rougher shallower water Of the
titles until rainy weather raises the
water, making swimming better for
lin. Right after high water makes
lave gone up stream to new localities
md the new feeding grounds are gen.
rally alive with eats carried down by
he current and this gives him a period
# easy feeding AS rule the bass
10 most Of their feeding in the shall
ows or below rifles, going to the deep
'ools for rest and digestion Of his
off Id Ihn~ af Z nI.
cry difficult to coax him with any lure
r bait.
Sports in the Moonlight
On a moonlight night the bass can
q seen jumping up out of the water.
aving general good time, Just like
bunch of kids in the old "swimmin'
ole" They are good night feeders
nd are generally close to the surface
t that time. That they come to the
urface at night was shown to ma in
triking manner a few years aeoS
While froggng one night ADORE a rie
es in the Mahoning riveyf ia eastern
hio was slowly rowSs across the
ver when something hopped into the
oat behind me. tter few excited
loments Of cons aole activity the
opper proved tr be Sa-pound large
louth bass, ard the following niebt in
ractically the same spo: a bass. larger
Y half POUND. fopped into the boat
bile the wife was plotting a bunch of
,fragettes on hunt for a mess of
ogs. Later fished this stretch of
iter with a moonlight mascot wob-
er and caught quite a few strings of
o bass, particularly fine I thought
: such civilized" waters.
Bass fishing in the streams. rivers
d lakes will be better each year. A
o steady stocking Of all civilized va
rs aud the rapid Increase OF the nsn
LAS the adaptability OF the serse-
outh o all waters means gocd bsss
hing. which is a keen sport iof .sns