FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



protection to their heads, as they are inclined, dur- 

 ing spawning, to thrust their heads between pebbles, 

 while their tails stand up perpendicularly. 



All minnows seem shy and timid, but small 

 baits are taken readily. Very small hooks can be 

 used with scraps of meat or worms. At best, this 

 is a tedious method ; when getting a supply of bait, 

 a fine-meshed net fastened nearly flat to an iron 

 hoop, say about two feet in diameter, is used; a 

 piece of bait is fastened to the middle ; the loop 

 is then lashed to a pole, and the net dropped into 

 the water, and drawn up quickly. 



A device called a minnow trap, consisting of a 

 glass barrel with a cone-shaped opening in front, 

 and a perforated piece of tin on the back, with a 

 few cracker crumbs to attract the fish, is by far the 

 best means of capture, and worth the trouble of 

 taking it along as part of one's equipment, for the 

 minnows which are caught in it are of the right 

 size. Into a minnow pail a quantity can be trans- 

 ferred, and the barrel can be left, sunken at some 

 good place, its location being marked by a small 

 float, and it is readily kept filled without the 

 slightest trouble. 



When one is in a hurry, a small drag net will 

 bring to land a plentiful supply for a day's fishing. 

 In cooking them, treat them like whitebait, or, if 

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