FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 143 



numbers to warrant good sport with the fly-rod is very 

 difficult to find except in certain favored localities. 



Usually the bass streams are deep and sluggish, ne- 

 cessitating the boat and the casting rod, or else, if the 

 streams are rapid and shallow, the brook trout is the 

 principal game fish found therein. Fly-fishing for bass 

 in lakes also well authenticated exceptions duly noted 

 and filed for future and practical reference is noto- 

 riously unremunerative. 



However, by using the customary outfit for fly-cast- 

 ing, casting in very much the same way and using a 

 small, feather-weight fly-spoon, the angler can have 

 fairly good sport with the fly-rod and the black bass un- 

 der any normal angling conditions. You must, however, 

 be a pretty good fly-caster know how to use your left 

 hand as well as your right in casting the fly or fly-spin- 

 ner and how to "shoot" your line at the finish of the 

 forward cast and you must also use a fly-spoon that 

 is suited to the business in hand. 



There is one manufacturer who makes a specialty of 

 this sort of tackle, and, as is often the case, the product 

 of this specialist is measurably in advance of the "just 

 as good" offered by other makers of tackle in general. 

 Since there is little or no trade competition in regard 

 to these fly-spoons and the author therefore is not liable 

 to be accused of odious comparison or entire lack of 

 intelligence about fishing tackle, it might be well to say 

 for the accurate information of the reader that the fly- 

 spinners mentioned are known as the Hildebrandts. 



It is necessary that the spoon blades be very light and 

 thin ; that heavy swivels, or for that matter any swivels 

 at all, be avoided ; and that the bass flies used with the 



