120 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



"If you need any more, you can get 'em over there at the 

 store, two for a quarter." 



"Jim," I said, "we're a couple of fools." 



"Why 'we'?" said Jim. 



With that we decided to adopt our original plan. Why not 

 fish on a running tide? We were there with the whole day be- 

 fore us. We would fish even though it was a forlorn hope. Row- 

 ing a boat was better than sitting on the wharf waiting for the 

 tide to turn. 



So we started out. The morning was ideal. Over against 

 the west, indistinct in the haze, a long, yellow line marked the 

 sand spit dividing the placid waters of the bay from the rolling 

 sea. We noted the very spot where the ill-fated "Mimi" rode 

 the breakers and wedged herself on an even keel high on the 

 beach. 



To the east the verdant hills closed in about the upper 

 reaches of the bay and quite concealed the outlet of the North 

 Fork, hid away among the meadows. 



Monarch spruces on the south shore, with their bare roots 

 twisting into the bay, extended heavy festooned branches which 

 brushed the surface of the blue-green waters. Was ever morning 

 lovelier than this? 



A half hour's pull up the bay netted us nothing but frequent 

 bunches of sea weed, and some well-meant advice from a passing 

 fisherman that our tackle was all wrong. 



"That red thing would scare a shark," he assured us. "What 

 you want is a number six nickel spinner sunk deep with a couple 

 ounces of lead." 



Our suspicions as to the feathered contraption already having 

 been somewhat aroused, we willingly made the change, and 

 started afresh. 



This time we trolled for nearly an hour before again receiving 

 advice. A swarthy young fellow in a heavy boat passed just as 

 we were cleaning sea weed from our hooks for the hundredth time 

 that morning. We didn't see him until we had bumped into his 

 boat. 



"In the first place," he snapped, "no fish in the bay would 

 take that. You want a brass tandem and no lead at all. In the 



