A Fisherman's Luck 



On what does success in fishing depend? Fishes have furnished one 

 of the oldest and most popular of sports throughout the world and for 

 all peoples. Ever since primitive man invented the fishhook his de- 

 scendants have been searching for a sure method to make fishes take 

 it. Since the days of Izaak Walton much has been written on the 

 subject, but most fishermen are still blundering along. Success in 

 fishing depends partly on perseverance, partly on skill, and partly on 

 luck, any one of which may predominate. Perseverance is a personal 

 quality and can be cultivated. Skill can be acquired too. On the other 

 hand, luck is an unknown factor. 



It is indisputable that on some days fishes do not bite as well as on 

 others. Censuses secured from many anglers on the number of fishes 

 caught per fishing hour prove this fact. Some people believe the weather 

 determines whether the fish will bite or not. Some believe that falling 

 atmospheric pressure will cause many fishes to bite. Others believe 

 that fishes bite according to the phases of the moon. None of these 

 explanations has yet been proved. As far as we know, fishes bite 

 only because they are hungry or because they are pugnacious and 

 so strike angrily at the intruding bait. Then, too, fishes must be 

 capricious, for almost every fisherman can remember times when his 

 wife at one end of the boat hauled in one fish after another while he at 

 the other end could not get even a nibble or a strike. Such experiences 

 as these leave little doubt that luck plays a part in fishing. 



To become a successful angler one must have some knowledge of the 

 habits and requirements of the various species of pan and game fishes. 

 It is part of the purpose of this book to supply some of the knowledge, 

 not by giving explicit directions for catching any particular fish, but 

 by providing such information about fishes as will enable the intelligent 

 fisherman to direct his fishing efforts more wisely. No one can learn 

 to be a successful fisherman merely by reading a book. There are no 

 fixed rules as to methods or baits, although certain general methods 

 and classes of baits may apply more to one species of fish than to 

 another. However, some species will sometimes show a distinct prefer- 

 ence for certain baits and then without advance notice will change 

 their preference. One summer the crappies in a certain lake were biting 

 readily on grasshoppers and apparently were not interested in any- 

 thing else. The next summer they were satisfied with nothing less than 

 live minnows. 



Certain techniques of fishing are more successful than others for 

 catching certain species. Still-fishing with the time-honored bait of 



