ARTIFICIAL BAll-fr 95 



induces fish to strike, we can and do state very em- 

 phatically. 



The use of "floaters" is one of the most pleasurable 

 forms of fishing. When you see an old he-bass dash 

 20 or 30 feet for a surface bait, and that bait is on 

 the end of your line, the business end of the rod to 

 which that line and lure are attached is no place for 

 a nervous lady! The surface bait cannot be used, 

 as some seem to believe, at all times and under all 

 conditions sometimes the fish will not rise to the 

 surface. 



Surface baits are at their best when the fish are in 

 shallow water and usually this means early and late 

 in the season, or after sundown in midsummer. The 

 best hours are from daylight until ten o'clock in the 

 morning, from four in the afternoon until dark, and 

 from "moon-up" until midnight. On dull days with 

 overcast skies, they can be used successfully all day. 



As with all casting plugs, long distance casting is 

 not ordinarily productive of fish, except when the water 

 is very smooth and very clear. True, one is likely to 

 get more strikes on long casts, but landing a fish 

 with more than 100 feet of line out is always a very 

 doubtful proposition. 



Short casts and lots of them is the best system, as 

 most strikes are produced the instant the bait "hits" 

 the water or very soon thereafter the short caster 

 makes the most casts and usually gets the most fish. 

 As the splash is an attraction, and because a fish who 

 sees a bait in the air can move to meet it when it 



