ioo CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



fish. For practice casting the surface lure has all the 

 advantages of the tournament weight, with the 

 added advantage of actually duplicating fishing 

 conditions. 



The surface lure is more adapted to lake fishing 

 than to river casting simply because lake denizens 

 are more apt to be surface feeders. Mind you, I am 

 not saying that bass do not feed upon the surface of 

 rivers and surface lures should therefore never be 

 used. All depends upon the character of the river; 

 one with slow current and many obstructions is 

 morally certain to produce surface feeders; while, 

 upon the other hand, a deep, free river is apt to 

 prove the home of bottom feeders. Where the cur- 

 rent is swift and obstructions numerous, the surface 

 lure will always manage to tangle up unless the 

 angler is constantly on his guard. Pre-eminently the 

 surface lure is a lake lure. Where the water shoals 

 or weed-beds offer lurking places for foraging bass, 

 there the commotion making lure is certain to prove 

 a winner. For ten years now I have been experi- 

 menting with various lures, keeping my records with 

 scientific accuracy, and I write with those records 

 before me. The splash of the lure striking upon the 

 surface of the water six or eight inches from the 

 marge of the weed-bed or snag, attracts the atten- 

 tion of the bass, and he strikes instantly and 

 ferociously, ofttimes knocking the surface lure high 





