84 The Angler's Secret 



Saginaw Bay. This water, besides be- 

 ing decidedly dirty and dark, was very 

 deep, and the fish must have been near 

 the surface, for, owing to the river's filthy 

 condition and depth, it were unreason- 

 able to suppose they could have seen 

 anything on the surface from the river 

 bottom or from one to two feet from the 

 bottom where black bass "do most con- 

 gregate. ' ' The water was made heavy by 

 disturbed bottom soil, and was dark by 

 being stained with the inner bark of the 

 millions of pine logs that had floated in 

 the river for years. So, here is a positive 

 case of fly fishing in water that was not 

 " reasonably clear." 



In the days I refer to a dozen years 

 ago black bass were seen jumping all 

 about the great wooden bridge. The 

 surface during the warmest evenings of 

 the midsummer was covered with a species 

 of flying insect known in those parts as 

 the June bug and May fly though the 

 little thing was often more in evidence in 



