58 Union Bay 



premium on activity; there was no continual hauling out of 

 lines to examine and renew bait. There was no movement 

 from one spot to another in an effort to find a better loca- 

 tion. They had selected their niche for the day; they had 

 come to relax and enjoy themselves. Their method was to 

 let the fish come to where the bait had been placed. They 

 did not propose to run around and hunt the fish. If the whole 

 day passed without the bobber frantically indicating the 

 presence of a bait-sampler, why worry? There was the pleas- 

 ant bank to sit upon, the warmth of the sun to give them 

 perfect comfort, other fishermen to joke with, a basket of 

 lunch, a cigarette or pipe, and plenty of tobacco. .If one 

 caught a fish, all watched and enjoyed it. They kept their 

 eyes on their floats and between times looked at the sky and 

 the birds and the smoke from their tobacco. They watched 

 me from the time I came from under the little bridge until 

 I left. Their faces were impassive and they did not speak 

 until I first spoke to them, and then their faces lighted up 

 and they quipped about the day, my canoe, my binoculars, 

 and the folly of pushing a paddle when a small investment 

 in an outboard engine and a few cents worth of gasoline 

 would enable me to rest and enjoy life. 



Just before the bank flattened out and the area became 

 marshy, I approached a couple I had never seen before. The 

 man, quite tall but a little stooped, wore army khaki trousers 

 and a dark sport shirt. An old panama hat completed his 

 costume. The open shelves of his spreading-type tackle box 

 contained an assortment of gadgets so varied that it com- 

 pletely eclipsed the collection owned by the man I had met 

 out by the log boom. Spoons, flashers, hook extractors, flies, 

 leaders, and the like filled every compartment. His pole was 

 split bamboo, closely wrapped, and the line which ran 

 through the agate guides was an expensive one. The float 

 had evidently been hand painted for, like the banner of the 



