MINNOWS AS BAITS 



called " white sucker," " brook sucker," and "fine- 

 scaled sucker," is one of the most desirable of all 

 minnows as bait, for it is the toughest and most 

 tenacious of life ; but it is also most difficult to 

 collect in sufficient quantities to use. It will be 

 known at sight by its peculiar, thick-lipped mouth, 

 which is situated below and behind the snout. 



The " mud minnow " or " dog-fish " is the 

 Umbra lint of the brooks, from the Latin umbra, 

 " shade," and linus, " mud." It is mostly found 

 in ditches and muddy streams. Stir up the mud, 

 and your bait is generally at hand. Its coloration 

 is a dark olive-green above, somewhat darker 

 below, mottled with about fourteen pale transverse 

 bars, often obscure in the young fish. It never 

 grows beyond four inches, and, like other bot- 

 tom fishes, is tenacious of life, and tough in lip- 

 formation. 



Whenever a young catfish can be obtained, it 

 will be found excellent for alluring black bass and 

 other fish. Care, however, must be taken to 

 allow more time for the bait to be mouthed, 

 turned, and swallowed, as the spiny dorsal of the 

 catty is often fatal to the fish when it seizes the 

 bait with a rush and swallows it quickly, and the 

 game fishes seem to be aware of this fact. 



There is no need of describing the catfish or 

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