i6 4 ' PRACTICAL FLY FISHING 



are located, and the services of a guide are not avail- 

 able, an hour or two exploring with a sounding line is 

 a good investment. Look for shallows especially off 

 or near points, islands or other outcroppings and when 

 you find them " mark down " each one by lining it up 

 with .dissimilar objects on two shores and enter the 

 observation in a note book. 



Keep your boat out in deep water and cast in to such 

 places. If the fish show any inclination to come to the 

 surface for your flies it is a good plan to fish there as 

 it is more enjoyable to see the fish strike. Use either 

 the cork bodied flies or the regular ones dried between 

 casts by " false " casting whipping it back and forth 

 through the air. " Flutter " your fly on the surface 

 and retrieve slowly. When the fish are feeding deep 

 I have had the most success with either a large (about 

 number i or i-o) Silver Doctor fly, with one or two 

 split shot pinched on the leader a few inches above the 

 fly, or by using a number 2 fly or the same pattern with 

 a number I (Hildebrandt scale) silver spinner, letting 

 it sink well before starting to retrieve. When fishing 

 near an island or point, especially in the evening, cast- 

 ing a weedless fly (to avoid getting hung up) on the 

 shore and then twitching it off into the water often 

 gives excellent results ; also useful where sizeable rocks 

 jut out of the water. 



The large mouthed bass, preferring shallow water, 

 is usually more easily taken in Iake3 than dolomieu 

 but it is often necessary to fish in the weeds. 



The shallow, weedy " lakes " of the Illinois river 



