Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

LIVING OFF THE COUNTRY 415taut. If a fish hooks Itself while you are by, youwin know it by the jerking of the trigger stick.Then haul in and bait afresh. In this way weused to catch barrels of catfish, redhorses, buffaloes,and white suckers, w^hen I w^as a kid, out West.We would set out several trot-lines, put a ball ofmud on each trigger stick, go off skylarking, comeback, and—wherever a mud ball had tumbled offwe knew we had a fish!If minnows or crawfish or hellgrammltes are usedas bait, or If the bottom is rough, it is a good planto float the hooks of a trot-line a few Inches off thebottom. This also keeps the bait in sight of passingfish. A split cork, or a bit of light wood, aboutfour Inches back of each hook, will do the business.For bait on a set-line you can use anything thatfish will eat, and this is a broad order, since mostof your catch will be ground-feeders who are notat all fastidious. For catfish one of the best baitsis raw, red meat. Entrails and other offal of animalsyou may have snared will do very well. Softor delicate bait, such as liver, should be threaded onthe hooks, or inclosed in a bit of mosquito netting,if you should chance to have any. This hindersturtles and eels from stealing the bait.Lacking a long line, you can tie short **bushlines," here and there along the bank at likelyplaces, to limbs of projecting trees, or to poles securelyplanted In the bank. It pays to take upthe outlines several times during the night, to rebait,and to get fish or turtles that might break awayif left on too long.Frogs.—Hitherto we have considered frogs onlyas bait. Let my revered and oft-quoted mentor"Nessmuk" tell how to get them for the pan. Aman without equipment can easily extemporize allthat is needed."And when fishing is very poor, try frogging. Itis not sport of a high order, though it rnay be calledangling—and it can be made amusing, with hook andline, . . . There are several modes of takino- the