SHORE CASTING 205 



out on down trees and half submerged snags, in 

 order to secure rod room, and standing thus took 

 more than one good mess. I have found small 

 lakes in the North Country, deep from the very 

 shore, where casting could be indulged in with joy 

 and success. For three years I lived near a small 

 lake, long and narrow, with deep water reaching 

 the bank at the lower end, from which I took my 

 quota of small-mouth. At some points the trees 

 leaned out over the water, though a man could 

 creep along under them, flipping his lure twenty or 

 thirty feet out, a method that brought results when 

 bass were feeding. I can well remember one June 

 evening when the fish under those trees were 

 numerous and would rise almost at my feet. I took 

 four bass, losing more than twice as many, but what 

 of that? That lake was within half a mile of a 

 city of 1,500. Near the same town there was 

 another lake, across the middle of which a railway 

 made its way. Needless to say one could cast from 

 the bridge, playing hide and go seek with the 

 trains. While ordinarily I urge the would-be lake 

 fisher to use a boat, the lack of a craft should not 

 deter him from trying his luck. 



A final word regarding the attractivity of the 

 sport may not be out of place. To steal along a 

 river bank in the early morning, or when the eve- 

 ning shadows gather, dipping now and then into 

 likely places, While the birds flit in and out of the 



