Northern Wisconsin is dotted with numerous small, deep lakes whose margins are either partially or totally bog. Originally larger, there circumferences have been gradually diminished by a centuries old process of bog formation.

This impingement is continuous with new crops of vegetation growing over the debris of earlier generations. Plant material decays slowly in such an environment and the resulting wet spongy accumulation irresistibly encroaches on the lake itself, eliminating the sloping bottom that leads to deeper water on other lakes.

Lush swamp grass and bushes and an occasional tamarack overhang water that ranges from crystal clear to tannic acid brown

Of importance to fishermen is the fact that the bog's encroachment means deep water starts right at shore. These shores go straight down and even sometimes shelve right towards the water. Depths of 10 feet or more right next to land aren't unusual.

My introduction to bog lakes came several years ago when I stepped into one wearing hip boots and a fly rod intending to wade and fish the shoreline. Incidentaly, I never did touch bottom.

Because of their depth and the absence of shallows near shore, most bog lakes are devoid of weeds except for an occasional clump of lilies. Here and there a tree, having lost its hold in the spongy soiled and toppled in, leaving a half submerged log with one end still attached to shore, provides the only surface cover besides overhanging grass and bushes.

Most of these lakes contain black bass and pan fish of some description. Very few of them hold stunted fish, probably because of the lack of weed cover to protect the surplus from predators,

Of special interest to fishermen is the fact that bog lakes are best fished differently than most of us are used to.

Many anglers, myself included, took up fly fishing because it best fitted the time they had available for fishing. For many of us, after we reach adulthood, fishing time is mostly confined to an hour or two in the evening after work.

In the lakes and ponds within practical driving distance in an evening, fish forsake deep water and move towards shore and dimple the surface with feeding rises about the time we are free to go fishing,

Casting and spinning lures can spook fish in shallow water, but the soft splat of a fly or bug cast on the surface doesn't seem to alarm them at all. Then too, fish move into the shallows in the evening to feed on insects and aquatic life of a size that is easily simulated with fly rod lures.

Bass and most pan fish are negatively phototropic, that is they shun bright sunlight and seek shade or the relative darkness of deep water. Because of this, in daylight hours most of the fish population of a bog lake can be found right up against the shore where they have both deep water and shade.

To the fly fisher this means, that given the chance, he can successfully fish bog lakes in the day time in the same manner he fished conventional lakes in the evening. If on vacation, for instance, he can enjoy his sport at mid-day and spend evenings with his family.

Planet Lake in Price county is a typical bog lake that this writer has fished a number of times. Approximately 40 acres in size, it is very deep along the shoreline except for a short stretch on the south side.

It contains large mouth bass and bluegills. The bass are coal black and the bluegilis are large with beautiful coloration. Their backs are very dark purple, and the males have brilliant red breasts.

Like other bog lakes, Planet Lake is best fished from a small boat or canoe.

Here, peacock herl nymphs and brown or gray hackle wet flies with herl bodies, tied on size eight or 10 hooks are almost always productive.

Try to stay out from shore 40 or 50 feet and place the fly right against the grass on the waters edge. Let the fly sink a little, then move it slowly with starts and stops out into the lake. What you are doing is leading the fish out away from cover and hits will usually come a foot or two away from the bank.

When the fly has been retrieved four or five feet, pick up and cast again, placing the fly over about two feet along the shore and repeat the process till all the shoreline you can reach has been covered. Move the canoe and repeat the operation.

Occasionally weighted flies will work better. This usually happens during the brightest part of clear, calm days.

It might seem better to anchor so that casts and retrieves can be made parallel to shore, but all this produces is small fish. The retrieve won't stay close enough to the bank to bring out larger fish.

Logs lying on the water with one end still anchored to shore are worth special attention. Try their shady side first and retrieve parallel to the log.

On this lake small yellow cork bugs with brown or gray hackle or tail are good producing floaters. Size 10 or 12 take both bluegilis and bass. A deer hair fly called the "Hank of Hair" is a good bass taker here also. It's merely a clump of deer body hair tied on a light wire, size 8 or 10 hooks with the tips sticking out over the bend like wings, and the butts trimmed to form a head.

Fish these similarly to sinking flies, paying special attention to the corners formed by logs or other debris jutting out from shore.

Retrieve with short pulls and long pauses, longer than with sinking flies. Hits will usually come while the bug is stopped. If something nudges the fly or strikes at it and misses, pick up and throw it right back in the same place. Both bass and bluegills can be teased into taking solidly by doing this.

Floating bugs can be effective when fish are off their feed and won't show the slightest interest in wet flies. Large bluegills, especially have a mean streak that will make them slash at bugs on the surface without any desire to eat them. They will come out of deep water to try to kill something with their back fins that seems alive on the surface. This is one reason for lengthy pauses between pulls on the retrieve.

These are often the hits anglers have on poppers that they can't hook. Putting the bug back in the same place immediately almost always brings another slash until on the third or fourth try the enraged fish takes squarely and is solidly hooked.

One of the secrets of consistently taking large fish on a fly from lakes is to make long casts. Stay as far from shore as you can and still reach it. Forty feet is good and fifty is better. Large bass and bluegills didn't get that way by hanging around boats and canoes