The sun., 1918-07-21
FLY CASTING FOR
BASS IN DELAWARE
Delightful Sport to Be Had
With This Representative
American Game Fish.
FLOATING BUG SUCCESS
By TAAIARACK.

In these days when the small mouthed
bass 10 being strafed numerically through
the agencies Of SOW belly. harnessed frog
and multisrapple plug It Is refreshing to
ind evidenced here and there An inter-
est in the application Of ny casting to
the taking Of this representative Amer
lean game fish.
1t therefore 10 with a good deal Of
pleasure that I reply to u. c. C.s"
query regarding the flies have found
most efficacious in this line OF work
As a matter Of fact simplicity charac-
terixes my humble views of ny variety
requirements in the case Of bass even
more so than 1t does where trout fly
selections enter into consideration.
In the days Of my pioneer bass ny
arsling-and that dates back nigh onto
forty yearS'-following the teachings OF
local tradition. I adopted and tied flies
Of beamy contour and subdued colora-
ton, partaking much Of the type OF
Brown Hen and Governor.
A little further on, adventuring into
fields Of originality after the way OF the
novice in fly tying. I departed from the
established beliefs Of my elders and con-
trtved weird combinations OF shape and
shade.
In the end It didn't seem to make
Improbable difference with the bass
other. Their attitude as interpreted 1t
appeared to be: go as far as you like,
we're Eame!" When the fish were at
hand and on the feed they never seemed
fussy about tho particular fly wished on
them. And still find It SO.
Ferguson Fly Preferred.
However intensely 1t may be main
tained by the majority Of ny purists tnat
in angling for trout, especially with the
dry fly, the imitation Of natural nights
of insects Is more or less Of necessity
Az anglers who are in addition familiar
with black bass will readily grant that
with these latter fish the attractive quail
tiles of the lure are of more Importance
The colors Of clubbing, hackle and
wings which lend themselves best TO the
alluring appearance OF made up ny
and at the same time possess some de-
gree Of resemblance to the natural
winged prey Of surface feeding fresh
water fishes are found in large meas
ures in the hues Of green, brown, yellow
and white.
Thus with respect to the adaptation
Of sreenish coiorings we have the Fer
xuson, Seth Green and Grizzly King !;
brown Is represented by the Governor
and Brown Hen. yellow by the Professor
and white by the Light Coachman. Rube
Wood, and IL one choose, by the two
Parmachenes.
Were I confined to the use OF single
fly for pickerel, large mouthed bass,
perch. calico bass and small mouths l
should select the Ferguson on account
Of Its similarity in the water to grass
hopper or a small frog.
Size Of Fly In Delaware.
The size Of the fly to be chosen for
use in the Delaware or in any similar
river Is to considerable extent de-
termined by the stage and clearness OF
the water.
A stretcher fly alone on No. hook is
proper for general conditions. Where
the stream is low and limpid No. 6
will be found more productive. and there
Ia no objection to adding dropper to
the cast under the circumstances OF n
reduced size of the fly.
There are occasions Of high and roily
water, and also about sunrise and twi-
light when Silver Doctor tied on
No. hook will bring big bass to net
This salmon fly is peculiarly adapted
to black bass angling because Of its
minnowlike aspect. Likewise when
through any cause the fish are not talk
ing hold freely the Silver Doctor in the
smaller sizos-say and twill often
secure n rise.
Dry fly fishing for the two .varities of
BASES with ordinary equipment is
rather slow and uncertain work unless
one is fishing a shallow rift, and then
the fish run SO small there is little
satisfaction in the past!me.
But II ~. C. c." should see TT to put
in some time casting with the so-called
floating fy or bug. which latterly has