204 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



I trow not. Even shorecasting without surprises 

 would prove very drab indeed. 



Always I have paid tribute to the fish that escapes. 

 Many times I have been compelled to take off my 

 hat to the victorious bass, invariably I think, with 

 fairly good grace. Why should the angler mourn 

 the fish that gets away? May it not be hooked 

 again? At any rate, has not the angler had the 

 thrill of battle? I will grant that at the moment 

 the experience is soul-wrenching, harrowing, but 

 when a few days have mellowed the happening it 

 becomes very satisfactory in retrospect. More 

 than once, many times, indeed, I have seen the 

 record bass of the day or season regain its liberty 

 by a last convulsive flop at the very lip o' the net. 

 A great splashing, a rain of spray, a disappearing 

 shadowy form, and a widening circle of wavelets 

 alone recording the story. Such an experience is 

 good for the angler's soul, I presume; at any rate, 

 if he is wise, he will discover why the accident 

 occurred, and so compel his failures to contribute to 

 his future successes. I have found my failures more 

 helpful than my victories. So here is to the bass 

 that gets away. May he continue to teach us how 

 to angle and so help us overcome his less wily 

 brethren. 



While, as I have said, bank-casting is a river 

 method largely, it is possible to fish some lakes, or 

 portions of them. More than once I have climbed 



