CHAPTER IV 



CASTING LURES 



As to who first succeeded in whittling out an arti- 

 ficial lure that would attract fish, history sayeth not. 

 Many individuals claim to be the original discoverers 

 of the "plug," even as many communities claim to 

 have been its birth-place. The fact of the matter is, 

 while the casting lure is a modern creation, artificial 

 fish-getters are very ancient. When discovered the 

 Indians were capturing fish with unbaited hooks of 

 bone. I shall never forget watching an Indian take 

 bass after bass with a bit of green willow twig to 

 which he had attached a heavy hook. I can whittle 

 out a lure, using "red willow r ' for a body, that will 

 attract bass. How long such things have been used 

 to attract and capture fish no man knoweth. How- 

 ever, ancient as artificial lures are, it was not until 

 the multiplying reel was perfected, and the short 

 casting rod came into being, that artificial bass lures 

 reached perfection. It is extr-emely difficult to un- 

 ravel the twisted history. 



Elsewhere I have told of the lad who accidentally 

 dropped the table-spoon over-board, and as with re- 

 morse he watched it dart and ricochet through the 



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