often
hear about the boy with the bent pin and the piece of thread who
catches more fish than the expert fisherman with modern, up-to-date
tackle, but I doubt if it is so. As a rule the better our tackle the
more fish we shall catch. If the country boy catches the most fish, it
is simply because he is better acquainted with the places where the
fish hide or feed. He knows their habits better and the best kind of
bait to use. A lover of fishing should take a personal interest in his
equipment and should desire to have the best he can afford.

The chief requirement of a successful fisherman is patience. Next to
that is a knowledge of the waters fished in and the habits of the fish
and how to attract them. A man or a boy who will sit all day in the
hot sun waiting for a bite is not always a good fisherman. He must
use common sense as well as patience.

A game fish may be defined as one that will make a good fight for its
life and that is caught by scientific methods of angling. Almost any
fish will struggle to escape the hook, but generally by game fish we
understand that in fresh water the salmon, bass, or trout family is
referred to. Pickerel and pike are also game fish, but in some
sections they are considered undesirable because they rarely rise to
the fly, which is the most scientific method of fishing.

A fisherman who is a real sportsman always uses tackle as light as he
can with safety and still have a chance of landing the fish. If the
angler will take his time he can, with skill, tire out and land fish
of almost any size. Tunas and tarpon weighing over a hundred pounds
are caught with a line that is but little thicker than a grocer's
twine, and even sharks and jewfish weighing over five hundred pounds
have been caught in the same way. Sometimes the fight will last all
day, and then it is a question whether the fisherman or the fish will
be exhausted first.

[Illustration: Fishing is the One Sport of Our Childhood That Holds
Our Interest Through Life]

In selecting our tackle, we must always keep in mind the kind of fish
we expect to catch. For general, fresh-water use, except fly
casting, an eight-foot rod weighing seven or eight ounces will fill
most purposes. A fly rod should be a foot longer and at least two
ounces lighter. The best rods are made of split bamboo, but cheap rods
of this material are not worth having. The best cheap rods (i.e.,
costing five dollars or less) are either lancewood or steel.