FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 127 



can immediately drop your bait plump in the middle 

 of the widening circle of ripples, the bass is generally 

 yours. But if your bait strikes only somewhere near 

 the place the chances are that the fish will stay in the 

 water. Also it is often necessary when the bass are 

 lying in the weeds to cast the bait into the small open- 

 ings of clear water that are found here and there. This, 

 of course, is when the weeds have grown so as to reach 

 the surface of the water, a condition which prevails 

 very generally during the summer. However, since 

 under these conditions it is most often necessary for 

 safety in landing the fish to use a rather short line, 

 accuracy in this particular instance is not difficult. 



In fly-fishing for trout accuracy is even more imper- 

 ative than in bait-casting. Time and time again the 

 writer has experimented in regard to this. It is an 

 absolute fact that at times a trout will not rise if the 

 fly varies only a matter of a very few inches from where 

 he wants it. The fish will rise when the fly reaches a 

 certain spot; if it varies almost infinitesimally say 

 three inches the fish will stay down. But it is not 

 only in this regard that accuracy in casting is desirable. 

 The banks of most of our best trout streams are more 

 or less, generally more, wooded and brush-grown and 

 overhanging branches must continually be taken into 

 consideration. The man who lacks accurate control 

 over his line both in the forward and back casts is 

 always in hot water, although he may be fishing "the 

 icy waters of a mountain trout brook." 



Delicacy in bait-casting is a thing attained only with 

 much practice. An artificial minnow or spoon, with 



