BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 91 



clear and sufficiently cool to bring the bass again into 

 the shallows, it would appear that the first weeks of 

 autumn, "when the bloom is off the water," are a 

 pretty good time to go bass fishing in fact, the very 

 best. 



To the writer it seems that, above all other methods 

 of angling for black bass, bait-casting is to be preferred 

 both for sport and results in fall fishing for bass. In 

 both lakes and streams, the bass, both the large- and 

 small-mouth, as above noted, are now in the shallower 

 portions of lake and stream, on the bars and in the 

 riffles, a condition decidedly favorable for bait-casting, 

 particularly so to the bait-caster who prefers the use of 

 the various top-water baits. With the coming of cool 

 water the fish gain a new lease of life, an accession of 

 activity and pugnacity, and are not at all the same fish 

 which, in the tepid water and sultry atmosphere of 

 July and August, required lengthy and super-skilful 

 teasing to make them rise. The bait-caster may con- 

 fidently rely for success upon any of the accepted cast- 

 ing baits, either surface or sinking, and the ordinary 

 trolling spoon or single-hook fly-spoon, used in the same 

 manner, are very successful in the fall months. The 

 angler should look for his fish along the shelving lake 

 shores and on the bars, and, in the streams, on point, 

 bar, or in the riffles. 



In the matter of tackle, before starting out for a bass 

 fishing trip in the fall, the angler who has done more 

 or less fishing during the summer should carefully test 

 his casting line. With the best of care, it has been the 

 writer's experience that the un waterproofed bait-cast- 



