172 
PICKEREL. 
true way in open water is to fisli for him with a spoon. 
The last is objected to as being too destructive ; but as it 
is clean, requires no bait, and is little trouble, and as the 
fish are utterly worthless either for sport or the table, the 
sooner they are destroyed and replaced by nobler sub- 
stitutes the better. 
Among the water-lilies the only mode is to use a long, 
stiff rod and short line, loaded with one buck-shot about 
a foot from the hook, and baited either with a minnow, 
the belly of a yellow perch, or better than all, a slip of 
the skin of pork cut into something resembling a small 
fish. The latter never wears out, and can hardly be torn 
off, while it often is j^referred to more natural food. 
The bait is dropped into the opening among the lily-pads, 
and sinking rapidly, by the weight of the shot, toward 
the bottom, is started up again by a twitch of the rod, 
and goes bobbing up and down till the pickerel, ren- 
dered frantic by such an absurd performance, can stand 
it no longer, and with one furious rush determines to end 
the gyrations of such a silly creature. ISTever wait for 
pickerel to gorge the bait, discard such old fogy notions, 
and by the aid of a strong rod and line, pull him out at 
once. At least one-half the time fish eject the bait instead 
of swallowing it, and no one who has ever eaten pork 
can question their taste. Waiting five or ten minutes, 
or till they make two or three runs, will not do in our 
rapid country. I have seen fish that were corpulent with 
over-feeding, and surrounded by their favorite food, 
young herring, taken by a piece of themselves being 
spun in this manner, when they would touch no other 
bait. 
