I 
VoL XC 
AUGUST, 1920 
No. 8 
DEEP FISHING IN HOT WEATHER 
THE SUCCESSFUL ANGLER FOR BASS, LAKE TROUT AND DEEP WATER 
FISH SHOULD HAVE AN INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAKE’S TOPOGRAPHY 
BY ROBERT PAGE LINCOLN 
T HERE is a knack to the art of deep 
fishing — a knack combined with a 
knowledge of the bottom of the lake 
you are fishing, which embraces a knowl- 
edge of the movement of the fishes, 
where they keep themselves, where are 
the spring-holes, if any, and where are 
the sandbars — all of which amounts to 
a great deal if you are to have success 
catching fish in the summer. I make 
these statements for the reason that 
there is no branch of the fishing pastime 
so misunderstood, or so wrongly gone 
about as deep fishing. You will find men 
with a thorough knowledge of inshore 
fishing but with an utter lack of knowl- 
edge about fishing, say, 20 or 30 feet 
to 100 feet down in the water. There 
are men who will keep right on fishing 
in the shore waters when, to the careful 
observer, it is known that the fish have 
moved out into the deep water at least 
during the hot hours of the day, of course 
to return in the cooler end of the after- 
noon, twilight and dark. But the in- 
shore man will keep on casting in the 
blazing sun and has no 
success — at which he won- 
ders. To have reasonable 
success at fishing for the 
basses and other fish in 
the hot days of July and 
August, therefore, one 
must know that a great 
number of the fishes for- 
sake the inshore waters 
during the heat of the 
day. When the weather is 
hot and you wish to fish in- 
shore do so from daybreak 
to about seven or eight in 
the morning. After that 
the fish that choose to stay 
inshore retire under the 
pads and the others swim 
out to the deep holes and 
the sandbars. 
David Starr Jordan has 
stated that the true angler 
is the man who knows the 
life and habits of the fishes 
that he angles for. He should also have 
stated that the true angler should know 
the waters he fishes, the locations of deep 
holes in lakes, and the reefs and sandbars; 
for knowing these he has success in his 
fishing in a most desirable measure. One 
famous angler for trout did most of his 
fishing along one mile of stream. He 
caught all the trout he had need for, 
and he knew every nook and cranny of 
that stream, where the big ones lay under 
over-hanging banks, the runs, the pools 
and the drifts. Anyone can duplicate 
that man’s experience. Mainly it is 
necessary to be patient. 
D URING the months of July, August 
and September (or at least the first 
two weeks of September) the fish- 
ing off of the sandbars should be at its 
best. Not all lakes have sandbars run- 
ning through them, and likewise it may 
be said that not all lakes are spring-fed 
from the bottom — but many are. Just 
how valuable these sandbars are may be 
gathered from this instance among 
many I know of: In Upper Bottle Lake, 
in the Mantrap Region of Minnesota, is 
a sandbar with deep water all around it. 
To the best of my knowledge it is not 
more than one hundred feet in length 
though around it over one hundred good- 
sized muscallonge have been captured. 
I can state a great number of other in- 
stances like the above. 
It is hard to tell about a lake, without 
studying it, whether it has sandbars or 
not. Generally you locate such places by 
one man rowing the boat and another 
looking down in the water for tell-tale 
weeds growing up. Thus you may be 
quite a distance from shore with very 
deep water all around you when suddenly 
the long stringy weeds will be seen in 
the water. As a rule that is an invari- 
able sign of a bar or a raised bottom. 
At once begin sounding for the bar with 
a piece of lead on the end of a line. Lo- 
cate the deep water off of it, where you 
are to fish and the bar itself. You can 
tell when your lead lies on the bottom 
by the sudden limpness of the line. 
Often sandbars of the 
kind I have described are 
located by investigating 
fishermen but are as often 
lost. Therefore, it is wise 
to line out this bar by 
marks on land. Thus a 
dead tree on one shore 
will line up with a rock or 
house on another shore, 
and with another on the 
other shores. By rowing 
in keeping with these 
marks you are able to hit 
the right spot almost 
every time. 'I have known 
some lakes where I could 
row so accurately as to 
never miss the bar. Once 
you have a bar located, 
you can fish there for 
years, but, if possible, do 
not overfish it. The less it 
is fished by numbers of 
people the better, of course. 
Equipped for a day’s sport with the lake trout 
