The Sunfish Family 55 



flies as coachman, brown drake, gray drake, and 

 stone fly, especially toward evening. The flies 

 must be allowed to sink with every cast after 

 fluttering them awhile on the surface. For bait- 

 fishing a trout bait-rod of the weight just men- 

 tioned, with a reel of small caliber and the smallest 

 braided silk line, will be about right. Sproat 

 hooks Nos. 3 to 4 on light gut snells tied with 

 red silk are the best. Live minnows about two 

 inches long, carefully hooked through the lips, 

 are to be lightly cast and allowed to sink nearly 

 to the bottom and slowly reeled in again. Or if 

 a float is used, the minnow may be hooked just 

 under the dorsal fin. A small float is necessary 

 when white grubs, crawfish, cut-bait, or worms 

 are used as bait. On lakes it is readily taken by 

 trolling with a very small spoon, about the size 

 of a nickel, with a single Sproat or O'Shaughnessy 

 hook No. I attached. 



A rod nine or ten feet long cut from the small 

 end of a native cane pole, weighing but a few 

 ounces, with a line of sea-grass or raw silk about 

 the length of the rod, will answer very well for 

 bait-fishing. This is the tackle mostly used by 

 boys in the Middle West, and it might be profit- 

 ably employed by boys of larger growth. 



