178 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



could not discover a hiding place large enough to 

 conceal a full-grown fish. After the battle, when 

 the bass was safely creeled, I examined the sunken 

 snag with interest and discovered a crook in the pole 

 had caused an eddy near the shore end that had 

 mined out a hole eight or ten inches deep in the silt; 

 in that I think the bass lay in wait for its prey. I say 

 "I think," for of course I do not know. 



It seems almost superfluous to add that care must 

 be exercised in casting over snaggy waters,, not only 

 because the hook may be fouled in retrieving, but 

 because if the rodster hooks a fish the latter will be 

 quick to seize the advantage offered By the proximity 

 of such refuges. I know of no variety of angling 

 where casting skill is of greater worth, accuracy and 

 distance both being valuable assets. The caster does 

 not wade where the bass are but where they are not, 

 casting into their favorite lurking places. Obviously, 

 in order to achieve a success worth while, the angler 

 must be able to place the lure where it should go, 

 not now and then, but nine times out of ten, say. 

 Here, as the copy-books used cheerfully to assert, 

 "Practice makes perfect." You will find casting in 

 thigh-deep water something of a problem, especially 

 if standing in a swift current. You will find yourself 

 forgetting a great deal learned regarding "over- 

 hand," "underhand," and other varieties of casts, 

 improvising to meet the exigencies of a given 

 problem. Whatever the angler does or does not do, 



