126 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



Fly- and Bait-casting for Accuracy, Delicacy, 

 and Distance 



These are terms which, while very familiar to tour- 

 nament fly- and bait-casters, are seldom heard among 

 anglers in general. However this may be, with the 

 possible exception of distance and that this at times 

 is also very necessary has been pointed out the success 

 of the bait- or fly-caster in actual fishing is greatly de- 

 pendent upon the degree of skill to which he has at- 

 tained in regard to these three casting requisites. 



The fisherman who can only approximately reach 

 the spot where he desires to place a bait, or who so 

 handles a cast of flies that they drop two 

 y* or three feet away from the point aimed 

 for is distinctly handicapped. In both black bass and 

 trout fishing absolute accuracy, that is, accuracy as 

 far as it may reasonably be attained, is a necessity for 

 the very simple reason that both bass and trout are so 

 constituted that very frequently they will only strike 

 a fly or bait when it is presented to them in a certain 

 way and in a certain spot. The angler for large- 

 mouthed bass, when fishing along a patch of water 

 weeds or rushes, has ample opportunity to verify this 

 statement. He finds that if the bait drops too far away 

 from the rushes or too close to them the bass will not 

 rise. For success the bait must be cast so as to strike 

 the water at a certain distance from the weeds, and 

 the allowance for deviation is very slight. 



Frequently when bass fishing you will see a bass jump 

 within casting distance from the canoe. Then, if you 



