212 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



numerous, will substitute a weedless hook. Sup- 

 pose he does fail to hook every fish that strikes, 

 that is better than hooking every weed that inter- 

 feres, or anchoring solidly to a log in the blackness 

 just beyond. There is a legion or two of devils 

 inhabiting "the blackness beyond," whose special 

 mission it is to torture the soul of the night fisher- 

 man, and lest they have their way. with him, he will 

 eschew hooky lures. 



Those radio lures are very good for the night 

 caster as they can be seen in the thickest darkness, 

 indeed the darker the night the more visible they 

 are. Every angler is acquainted with them. The 

 plug is coated with some sort of phosphorescent 

 paint that has the property of absorbing and radiat- 

 ing light. Exposed to the sun, or even to the flame 

 of a match for a moment or two, they will glow 

 with a bluish-white, ghostly light for some hours. 

 Whether or not the light attracts the fish is an open 

 question, but it does reveal the location of the lure 

 to the anxious boatman, a matter oT even greater 

 importance. There are a number of good lures 

 upon the market designed especially for the night 

 fisherman. I would select those that make quite a 

 splash and commotion if I were purchasing, for the 

 bass finds the commotion-making lure almost irre- 

 sistible; he strikes at it first, finds out afterwards 

 what it is. His mental processes asking the par- 

 don of John Burroughs run on this wise "There 



