164 PRACTICAL BAIT CASTING 



Sometimes the fish are in a "biting" mood. Even 

 when their stomachs are apparently filled they will 

 strike a lure either in anger or in the spirit of play. It 

 is generally accepted by anglers that game fish, being 

 night feeders, the ones we catch in the daytime are 

 the few that did not get a "square feed" the night 

 before and this is the logical explanation of the fact 

 that only a very small percentage of the available fish 

 are ever striking at one time. It is well that this is 

 so, otherwise the fish would soon be exterminated. 



The best hours for fishing are usually from day- 

 break until say ten in the morning, or from four in 

 the afternoon until midnight, varying somewhat with 

 the seasons and peculiar local conditions. On cloudy 

 days fish seem to strike well all day, as is often the 

 case with a bright sun in cold weather. 



Personally, we believe that early morning fishing 

 on large lakes is seldom worth missing one's breakfast. 

 Our experience is that it is just as well to wait until 

 the sun is up. Local conditions vary, however, and 

 the man who lives near good fishing waters soon learns 

 by observation just what the conditions should be for 

 a good day. The conditions that spell a good day and a 

 big string on one piece of water may have an opposite 

 effect on another. 



