A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO FISHING

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If you plan to release the fish, wet your hands before touching it, and handle it gently. (In fact, if you're planning to release your day's catch, it's best to bend down the barbs on your hooks with a pair of pliers, to make hook removal easy.) Whether you aim to let the fish go or not, take a few seconds to savor its delicacy of color and beauty of line. Few things look as alive as a living fish, and appreciating that beauty is one of your rewards for skillful angling. Enjoy it.

Then, after unhooking the fish and putting it on a stringer or in a water-filled pail, rebait and cast back to the same spot. Chances are there are more where that one came from.

KAY HOLMES STAFFORD

If, however, a while passes with your bobber doing little more than serving as an aircraft carrier for tired dragonflies, reel it in, check the bait to make sure you weren't dozing or distracted when a fish hit and try another spot on the pond. Or vary the depth of your bait by moving the bobber up or down. You might even make a relatively long cast and move the float a foot or so every minute or two until you find fish. In a reasonably productive pond, a few hours of this sort of rest and relaxation ought to pro vide you with the makings of a nice family dinner.

There are, of course, less passive ways to tackle the same body of water. And, though bobber fishing can yield some huge fish, the techniques described above are far more likely to bring you bream than hefty bass or trout.

If largemouth bass are what you're after, you'll probably do well with a variation of the bobber technique. Just try a bigger float and a bigger hook (size two or larger) and a two-inch-long (or longer) minnow or shiner, hooked either through the lips or just under the back (dorsal) fin so it can swim freely. The small baitfish will pull the bobber around, but you shouldn't have any trouble spotting the difference in the action of the float when a bass grabs the bait and tries to make off with it.

With that "hawg" (bass-fishin' talk for a big one) in mind, this is probably a good time to talk about drag. Either on top of your reel's spool or by the handle (see the owner's manual) will be a dial you can loosen or tighten to make it easier or harder to pull line off the closed spool. Set this to allow line to be taken when the pull is just over half the line's breaking strength (you can guesstimate accurately enough). Then, when a real hawg takes of on a run, he'll simply pull off line against the drag, tiring himself all the while, instead of breaking free. Once you have him on and fighting, keep the rod tip high. Only try to reel when the fish isn't pulling against the drag. If the bass explodes upward in a rainbow-spraying leap, drop the rod tip a foot or so each time the fish breaks water. Try to make your movements smooth, gradual but relentless. With a little luck, you'll soon grab the bass's lower lip (watch that hook) and hoist your prize ashore.

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