246 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



experience have their own peculiar ways of arranging their 

 tackle, and handling, and while they all differ more or less 

 in minor details, they are practically the same. I will 

 describe the tackle with which I have met with the best suc- 

 cess. 



"The angler may use a hand-line or a rod, but the latter 

 is the better, because its spring helps in playing the fish 

 when struck. The rod line used is a hawser-laid Striped Bass 

 linen line, size No. 9. These lines usually come in 600-feet 

 lengths, but it is rare that more than 300 feet are used or 

 required. Before using a new line, the stretch should be 

 taken out of it as much as possible, else it is very difficult to 

 strike a fish. In fishing, the line should be paid out slowly 

 in order to prevent fouling, which the position of the sinker 

 might otherwise cause. The leader, nine feet in length, is 

 of single gut, one size finer than salmon gut. It is tied in 

 two sections, with a swivel three feet from the lower end, 

 and with another swivel on the gang of hooks. A six-ounce 

 sinker is tied on the end of the line, and the leader is fastened 

 to the line four feet above the sinker. It is also advisable to 

 place another swivel on the end of the leader, to be attached 

 to the line, and this swivel should play on a round glass bead, 

 which is kept in place by a knot on the under side. The 

 object of the bead is, in case the sinker should strike a hill, 

 and roll, it will do so without tangling the leader. 



"The hooks are flatted O'Shaughnessy's No. 8. These are 

 the only hooks that I have found which will stand the strain. 

 There are two sets of three each, and a single lip hook in a 

 gang; and they are tied on, back to back, in the shape of a 

 grapnel. For a minnow five inches long, the middle set of 

 hooks is placed three inches from the upper hook, while the 

 former in turn is two inches from the lower set. If the min- 

 now is longer or shorter, the gang must be correspondingly 

 proportioned, care being taken always to place the hooks in 

 the same relative distances as above noted. The middle set 



