The sun., 1918-08-04
SKILL NEEDED FOR
HOT WEATHER BASS
With Thermometer at 80 Deg.
knowledge Of Fish and
Habits Pays Dividends.
| NATURAL FOOD BEST
ny DIXIE CARROLL.


part OF the angler than during the hot
weather. and that is the time, old scout,
when your knowledge of the fish and
their habits pays big dividends.
The game fins are decidedly particu-
lar about their hot weather menu. and
they often pass up line of feed that
would make EN- stretch their skins to
get at either early or late In the season
When the mercury is on the high
notch move and the water takes on that
CLASSY surface stuff, the fish are failing
around looking for the cool spring holes
in the deep pools and they do the most
OF their feeding very early In the morn
ing, late In the afternoon and during the
evening and night.
During the most OF the daylight hours
they are hugging the bottom, just lying
around in a lazy sort of a way digest
ing their food. At this period you can
whip the surface to foam without
coaxing them TO a strike: it's case
OF sending your bait right down to
them II you expect them TO give 1t the
double o.
For a few hours in the very early
morning you will generally find the bass
In the shadows feeding. and at this
time you can cast with the semi-surface
artificials with fair success. although
nice little piece of pork rird with
weighted red ibis fly makes dandy
casting lure for the early A. NJ. stunt.
Evening vs.. Morning Casting.
After their morning feed, back to the
deep pools hike the game bass. and you
don't see much of them again in the
bait casting game that day until very
Lao, ~. ,ft pino ha,
another shot at casting usually puts
few on the stringer. In fact. the eve
ming casting is more successful than the
early morning.
The redh bait that makes 'em nervous
and gives 'em enough pep TO make
strike Is the live nltuEal food of the
fish. the mnnows. fro7s, crawnsh, worms
and grasshoppers. These baits, II sent
down to the game fins, are the one best
bet in the hot daytime
II you are after bass. old timer. To-
cate a spring hole or sand bar anywhere
at a depth of from twenty to 100 feet
down. II your fishing waters run that
deep. and let your little old live bait set
tie and you'll get bass while the other
fellow gets muscular exercise doing the
casting act
Right in midseason, when il was hot
ter than Billybedamn. I have had some
fine bass fishing for small mouth. OF
course some of the fellows will pass the
buck that this is nothing but still fish,
ing, but there is an an2le to the game
that puts a kick into it that will make
/. a mighty dlvertlng sort of stunt IL
you play it right
Setting the Hook.
Take your fly rod, or II you don't
60 Aat I'd - eel,
cheap steel rod about ten or twelve
feet long. Use your regular bait casting
reel and slip into the game.
Hook on a minnow and give II a short
cast. sort OF a side swipe and without
any more force than to carry the bait
out about twenty feet from the boat, SO
that 1t lands very lightly on the water.
This is necessary. for the reason that
lot OF your success depends on the
wiggle OF the minnow down there in
the bass country, and he sure won't
have any wiggle II you wallop him out
on the water with a smack.
When you get your strike way down
below and the line telegraphs the short
signal to you. don't strike. but give the
bass a chance TO run with the bait. be-
cause he does that every time with the
live bait, and striking at once after
his strike simply means that you will
tear the bait out OF his mouth or in
half.
The bass of the hot weather doesn't
take much Of n hold on your bait at the
start, and when he makes his run let
| him have the line. He may run ten
! feet or a hundred-there Is no rule or
reason to the length OF the run. it's en-
tirely up to the old he-wop and the
| humor he Is in.
/
the line. dope it out. old man. that he
has stopped and is turning the minnow
around in his mouth and swallowing
1t head first. Give him about ten sec
onds to do this stunt and then strike
/ him and set the hook firmly in his tough
old mouth.
Tactics of Black bass.
Now the real sport begins. il you are
holding the butt end of a long, whippy
; fly rod. Like old Dan Patch. the bass
! makes a run that arches your rod from
! tip to butt and almost makes II a COM
! plete circle and when you begin to take
away that fifty or hundred feet of
| line your work is cut out for you.
At times the scrappy rascal will make
| a direct run 10 the surface and catch
| YOU with a slack lire, and making his
| famous break water will give your hook
a shake, and good night he's gone. 1t
takes speedy work with the reel to save
him.
| At other times he will sulk on the
bottom and make YOU tug and strain
your tackle and patience to work him
| up.
Often he will sneak into crevce in
the rocks, II there are any down be-
| low, and you can Jig saw quite bit be-
fore you bring him up and he has sense
enough to work around the sharp edge
OF rock so that you will saw your
line in two trying to work him 20 the
| net.
Last season while fishing with Earny
Wendt, one OF the best little guides
that ever dipped a paddle. we would
locate a school OF small mouth bass and
quietly fish the school until we had the
whole outfit.
In one pool we took eight bass out
OF n school OF eleven that Earny could
count as they aazed around on the
sandy bottom.
We dropped our mud minnows over
the side and let them slowly sink down
among the bass. and often two or more
bass would make n dart for the min
now, the lucky fellow making a run
with his prey until he thought II was
safe to stop and swallow 1t.
The run OF these bass averaged from
forty to ninety feet.
This was hot weather fishing In mid
day with the Thermometer registering
about 90 degrees.
Youthful Tuna Champion.
PASADENA. Cal. Aug. 3.-Mrs r. q
Kendall says that the feat Of her son