92 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



ing line of small caliber which has been in use since 

 the opening of the bass season is not to be trusted when 

 the season is nearing its end. It should be carefully 

 tested and the weaker portions broken off until you have 

 a length of good, strong line, or a visit to the tackle 

 dealer is rendered imperative. 



A weak line is not only conducive to lost fish, but 

 is also an expensive luxury in the matter of snapping 

 off baits. Also, the mental poise of the angler who 

 realizes at one and the same instant that he has on the 

 largest bass he ever saw, and that he has him on a rotten 

 line, is not at all conducive to the calm and strategic 

 handling of a large fish. As a general rule it is well to 

 strengthen the tackle at all points for fall bass fishing, 

 for at this time one is more apt to make connections 

 with large bass than at any time during the season. 



Although the preference of some anglers would cer- 

 tainly be for bait-casting, it is not to be understood that 

 fly-fishing is at a discount in the autumn. The con- 

 trary is true. But the fly-caster should choose for the 

 scene of action some well-known bass river, rather than 

 a lake. As a general rule, with, of course, the usual 

 exceptions necessary to prove it, fly-fishing for bass in 

 lakes is not ordinarily a success. It is much better to 

 select some wadable river where you can go about it in 

 the same manner as trout fly-fishing is usually done. A 

 canoe cruise on some good river, with bass fly-fishing 

 as its object, in the fine weather prevailing in September 

 and October, is a form of sport hard to equal. Since 

 bait-casting is equally effective in either lake or river, 



