Black Lures 
To Use Sable-Hued Flies on a Moonless, Stygian Night Seems Para- 
doxical, Nevertheless Experiment Has Proved the Soundness of the Theory 
HAVE been searching diligently 
for an explanation that would tell 
me why pitch black lures assure - 
more than ordinary success in fishing 
for black bass, calico bass, perch, pick- 
erel, and blue gills. Four years of ex- 
perience with black lures convince me 
that fish possesses capacity of sight 
somewhat different from what I had 
formerly assumed. For one is bound 
to be dumbfounded when he witnesses 
black bass taking black lures during 
the darkest of nights at depths of 
twenty-five feet or more. 
At last a renowned physicist has ex- 
plained the dilemma. Jet black, says 
he, is the absence of color. It stands 
out in contrast to all surrounding colors, 
lights, shadows and reflections. To the 
eye of a fish it constitutes a distinct 
blank area amid a myriad of colors and 
lights. Even in deep, dark waters a 
totally black object will stand out 
against the small portions of light that 
come from the surface or from the 
phosphorescent conditions of the water. 
To the eye, black constitutes a blind 
spot in contrast to all surrounding 
lights and colors. 
Such is the theory! Take it or leave 
it! The purpose of this article is not 
to expound a theory but rather to 
arouse to definite interest practical fish- 
ermen whom I trust will give black 
lures the fair trial they deserve! If 
given such a trial, I prophesy that 
every tackle kit will soon have its full 
share of spinners, flies, and plugs that 
are as black as the proverbial ace of 
spades. 
Some specific instances, I trust, will 
be sufficient to show the good results 
that are possible with black lures. 
M Y first experience with black lures 
dates back to the fall of 1919. It 
was a cold September night, between 
10 P. M. and 2 A. M., that I was fish- 
ing the western shores of Lake Seneca, 
N. Y., about eight miles north of Wat- 
kins Glen. I had as my partner a most 
charming soul who had fished these 
same waters for forty years. Let me 
impress the reader that the night was 
There 
exceptionally dark. was no 

ANY 
Dixie Midget—Size, three inches, 
270 
By DR. CHARLES REITELL 

Seneca Black Bird—Size, four inches. 
moon, not even a star was shining. A 
penetrating mist hung over the lake 
that made it impossible to distinguish 
shore objects beyond thirty feet. With 
these black adventuresome surround- 
ings, imagine my astonishment upon 
seeing this clever old fisherman pulling 
out black bass off a twenty-five foot 
bottom—and he was using a huge black 
fly which he had concocted out of black 
feathers and velvet cloth. (See cut of 
Seneca Black Bird.) 
That night was a revelation. Even 
a novice at fishing would marvel at 
the discriminating power of the eyes 
of a bass to strike so exactly under 
such conditions. I was compelled to 
cast overboard old prejudices and old 
theories right then and there. 
HAT experience on Lake Seneca 
suggested that black had further 
possibilities as a lure. Two weeks later 
I had proof that this hunch was a good 
one. I was fishing in Naaman’s Pond, 
near Middletown, Delaware—a small 
lake which afforded surprisingly good 
fishing. I had applied three coats of 
black automobile paint to two small red 
and white bass plugs and thus created 
attractive sticks of licorice for the bass. 
Two of us fished from three in the 
afternoon until after dark. We totaled 
six black bass, fifteen calico bass, and 
three perch. The gratifying thing to 
me was finding that the licorice stick 
was just as effective as its brightly 
colored competitors. But more im- 
portant—at twilight, when brightly 
colored plugs suggest themselves, the 
black plug did exceptionally fine work 
in catching calico bass. 
In 1922, the black spinner and black 
fly were added to my kit. The spinners 
must be painted black as it seems dif- 
ficult to purchase them at tackle stores. 
Let me detour here by saying that 
manufacturers seem to have an aver- 
sion to black for lures as it is next to 
impossible to purchase black flies and 
spinners—but if this article is so for- 
tunate as to “get by” the editor, I as- 
sure you that the leading manufacturers 
will have an underscored copy sent to 
them. 
HE most successful spinner for fly 
casting for bass and pickerel is the 
one made up according to the sketch of 
the Black Death, in the lower right 
hand corner of the page. By casting 
toward shore into lily pads and by logs 
and weeds, it is most effective. A rather 
long cast is made. By regulating your 
reel turn you can readily change the 
depth of your fly and spinner. Experi- 
ence seems to favor smaller srinners 
rather than the larger ones. During 
the late summer of 1924, three black 
bass, ranging between one and two 
pounds, were caught in shallow riffles 
with this lure just as darkness was 
setting in. 
There is an English dry fly, which 
when attached to a very small spinner 
makes an excellent lure for perch and 
blue gills. I believe the name of this 
fly, which is eyed, is the “Boat Black.” 
The body is maroon in color, which is 
readily dyed black by the use of Hig- 
gins ink. The sketch of the Dixie Mid- 
get gives this fly and spinner as it ap- 
pears in my kit at present. 
In a very few sportsman’s stores in 
the Finger Lake region, one may pur- 
chase snelled black bass flies which, I 
am told, are very successful for stream 
fishing. One is called the Raven, and 
the other the Black Hackle. As neither 
of these flies are eyed they cannot be 
rigged with a spinner. 
[2 is hoped, as suggested above, that 
in the very near future manufac- 
turers will produce black lures to the 
extent that one can procure an assort- 
ment sufficient to give black a genuine 
tryout in different waters under vary- 
ing conditions. 
To the writer it seems odd that there 
has not been developed in America a 
(Continued on page 307) 

Black Death—Size, six inches, 
