WATER-WITCHES. 25 



must, in their transit through the water, chng 

 close, or nearly so, to the body of the bait-fish. 

 To one who knows nothing of angling, this may 

 seem wholly unimportant, provided the points 

 and barbs are not absolutely buried in, or lie 

 close upon, the scales of the bait. But well do 

 many anglers know, that the chief reason why 

 a Trout is not hooked, when he actually lays 

 hold of the Minnow, is, in most cases, because 

 the hooks hug the Minnow so lovingly as to 

 allow the Trout to shake both bait and hooks 

 out of his mouth, the moment he has seized 

 them. And this is a common cause wiiy, out 

 of twenty runs, ten fish are rarely killed. 



"With the exception of Colonel Hawker's plan, 

 no other is worthy of consideration. And I 

 think it not improbable, that, could he have 

 made the Minnow spin by placing the hooks 

 on both sides, he would have done so. But, 

 curve the tail or body in whatever way you 

 will, you cannot make it revolve quickly and 

 well, if the hooks be placed on both sides. 

 Make it spin by means of the head instead of 

 the tail, and you may cover both back, belly, 



