When to Get Them 



are lying behind a shaded rock, in deep holes, 

 till the setting of the sun; then all of a sudden 

 sometimes half an hour after sunset or a little 

 longer, when it is just getting dusk, the fish rise 

 up in all directions, the surface of the water being 

 a mass of flies on the wing. Then the angler has 

 work before him, and the advantages all in his 

 favor; no sun to cast his shadow on the water, 

 not too much light for the fish to distinguish the 

 artificial nature of the flies, and the fish hungry, 

 ready and willing to take the lure. If I have no 

 luck during the day, it's a pretty sure 

 -thing to get a full creel from sunset until 

 dark, or when a nearly full moon is up. 



If no moon is up fishing after dark is not favor- 

 able; the flies are cast without any chance of 

 seeing the result; sometimes the leader and flies 

 get entangled unknown to the angler, who goes 

 on casting in ignorance of such trouble. Then 

 the landing of a fish is much more difficult in 

 pitch dark; better to leave off for the morrow as 

 the fish will stay there. Bait-fishing is another 

 matter, and can be handled with more comfort. 

 Still-fishing for more common fishes like eels, 

 perch, wall-eye pike, and catfish, is more 

 productive of success at night than any 

 part of the day, those mentioned being mostly 

 nocturnal fishes. In fact, people suffering from 

 insomnia might do worse than spend the night 

 still-fishing on a quiet lake; the time would pass 

 most agreeably. Taking the hook from an eel, in 

 the dark, is a lively proposition. 

 221 



