"Snap," went the Bass.

One instant the line strained, the next the hook came up stripped clean of bait.
Then Dannie and Jimmy really went at it, and they were strangers.

Not a word of friendly banter crossed the river.

They cast until the Bass grew suspicious, and would not rise to the bait; then they fished deep.
Then they cast again.

If Jimmy fell into trouble with his reel, Dannie had the honesty to stop fishing until it worked again, but he spent the time burrowing for grubs until his hands resembled the claws of an animal.