78 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



when the weather is unseasonably cold, the mid-day 

 fishing is sometimes the best. The early 



W earner m0 rning hours are the most fruitful in 

 Conditions. , ,11 e 



almost all waters, and the late afternoon 



and evening fishing is, other things being equal, always 

 good. Under normal conditions bass feed principally 

 early and late in the day. In the summer time, how- 

 ever, during the full moon, when the nights are still and 

 almost day-bright, the bass feed during the night, and 

 day-time fishing is usually very poor. 



For a good fishing day it is by no means essential 

 that the sky be overcast. A gray day is a good fishing 

 day undoubtedly, but, in the writer's opinion, a bright, 

 snappy day, with a good ripple on the water, is quite 

 as likely to yield results. A bright, still day in the sum- 

 mer time, when the weather is hot, is no fishing day 

 for the bait-caster. Deep-trolling with live bait is 

 about the only practicable method under such condi- 

 tions. After the long continuance of a certain sort of 

 weather, either bright or dark, dry or rainy, the fishing 

 often falls off and then any change is one for the better. 



Minor weather changes are not liable to affect the 

 river bass fishing greatly. Running water, the varying 

 conformation of the banks and stream bottom, the fact 

 that due to the many turns and bends of the river the 

 wind affects in a different way different portions of the 

 stream, these and other factors combine to keep the 

 fishing fairly good under nearly all conditions. The 

 stream bass angler, however, has to pay for his immun- 

 ity from certain nuisances affecting the lake fisherman 

 in the susceptibility of the stream to sudden rises 



