190 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



good place for deep fishing unless the stream is 

 infested with pickerel, in which case it is apt to be 

 inhabited with that unsavory gentleman. The 

 pickerel is all right in his place, but when we are 

 casting for bass we desire none of him. The eddy 

 at the bend or elbow of a stream will give an oppor- 

 tunity for long casts and a chance to try out under- 

 water lures without fear of snags. I have found, 

 when fishing with underwater lures of any sort, 

 simple trolling spoon or involved minnow type, that 

 I have taken more fish reeling with the current. I 

 think the reason is, that when drawing the lure 

 against the current it travels too slow to attract the 

 average bass. Perhaps I am wrong in my theory, 

 but I am not wrong in my fact, my notes for twenty 

 years with bass substantiating the assertion. In the 

 matter of eddy fishing I can only reiterate what I 

 have said regarding casting elsewhere, make haste 

 slowly, take planty of time to fish out the water. 

 Let no likely pool or hint of pool pass to the rear 

 unfished. The patient and slow fisherman wins out 

 where the light and dilettante angler fails. Re- 

 member the fable of the hare and tortoise. 



It is undoubtedly true that bass prefer a diet of 

 crustaceans, but in the average river they are not 

 adverse to an occasional minnow or two, perhaps as 

 a sort of dessert. The live bait fisherman has long 

 known that there is no better bait than a shiner 

 minnow. Where a creek enters the main stream, the 



