The habits and preferences of the basses should not be forgotten. One should look for small mouths on the rocky ledges, on the sand or gravel bars or where there are currents. If you do not know where these
are located, and the services of a guide are not available, an hour or two exploring with a sounding line is a good investment. Look for shallows especially off or near points, islands or other outcroppings and when you find them " mark down " each one by lining it up with dissimilar objects on two shores and enter the observation in a note book.
Keep your boat out in deep water and cast in to such places. If the fish show any inclination to come to the surface for your flies it is a good plan to fish there as it is more enjoyable to see the fish strike. Use either the cork bodied flies or the regular ones dried between casts by " false " casting — whipping it back and forth through the air. " Flutter " your fly on the surface and retrieve slowly. When the fish are feeding deep I have had the most success with either a large (about number I or I-o) Silver Doctor fly, with one or two split shot pinched on the leader a few inches above the fly, or by using a number 2 fly or the same pattern with a number 1 (Hildebrandt scale) silver spinner, letting it sink well before starting to retrieve. When fishing near an island or point, especially in the evening, casting a weedless fly (to avoid getting hung up) on the shore and then twitching it off into the water often gives excellent results; also useful where sizeable rocks jut out of the water.
