Fearing, Daniel Butler

The Striped Bass

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904. Excerpt: ... coast and estuaries. SECTION FIFTH. Casting Bait for Striped Bass. Casting menhaden bait for striped bass from the rocky shores of the bays, estuaries and islands, along the Atlantic coast constitutes the highest branch of American angling./ It is indeed questionable-when considering all the elements which contribute toward the sum total of sport in angling-whether this method of striped bass fishing is not superior to fly fishing for salmon, and if so, it outranks any angling in the world./ The method is eminently American, and characteristic of the modem angler by its energy of style, and the exercise and activity necessary to success. Reels for this kind of fishing have taxed the ingenuity of the best fishing tackle makers in the Union. The balance crank should be designed with the greatest nicety of proportions, to prevent a momentum hard to check with the thumb, and still the crank should not be so short as to be difficult in reeling. The crank should also be placed so far back and low on the end of the reel as not to endanger the fingers of the angler by a sudden strike of a heavy fish, for a bass does not, like the salmon, stop to study the cause of a pain in the jaw, but straightv/ays makes a run without hesitation. The best materials for reels are supposed to be German silver, brass or bell-metal. The wheels should run on jewels, and be so covered with an inner case as to protect them fran salt water. The reel should not be too long; the one represented on the plate of bassing implements indicates the shape. It should be a triple multiplier, without check or drag, and large enough to carry from two to three hundred yards of fine linen line. Lines should either be of linen or hemp, hawserlaid, or of braided silk. The latter is the easiest to cast, bu