CASTING AFTER DARK 209 



has a basis of fact, which can not be said of all 

 weather apothegms. The sun disappears and the 

 lake becomes glass. Night creeps in from the east. 

 Gradually distant objects grow hazy, then disap- 

 pear. The world shrinks. The trees along the 

 shore take on a ghostlike character, if only a few 

 rods away, looming tall and specter-like against 

 the twinkling sky. It is difficult to distinguish the 

 shore-line, the water and land blending in the half 

 light in a wonderfully confusing manner. The 

 weed-bed, perfectly familiar in mid-day, assumes a 

 foreign aspect under the influence of Erebus until 

 one is prone to believe that he never saw it before. 

 The stars in the water, exaggerated replicas of 

 those sparkling in the low arch -above, adds to the 

 angler's tumult of mind. Imagination runs amuck. 

 Only the very sane or very phlegmatic should in- 

 dulge in night casting. No, I have not over-drawn 

 the matter one iota. 



From the foregoing paragraph it would at once 

 appear that the fisherman must have accurate and 

 intimate knowledge of the water; know the location 

 of every weed-bed, snag and open pool. The 

 rodster must study the water to be cast over with 

 minutest care, marking open pockets along the edge 

 of the weed-field so that it will be impossible to 

 make a mistake after night-fall. He will even 

 thrust a stick or two deep down in the mud a few 

 feet to the left or right of the spot he wishes his 



