30 CROOKED LAKE. 



bait, artificial or otherwise. For fishing the deeper 

 reaches of any water minnows are unquestionably the 

 best bait, and I think the next best all-round bait is 

 a spoon and pork rind. With a minnow the angler can 

 dwell on his cast, allowing the bait to make short 

 periodical stops during its progress through the water, 

 thus giving a not over hungry fish the opportunity to 

 seize it; but with the spoon and pork rind the lure has 

 to be kept on the move all the time, otherwise its al- 

 luring powers the spin are wanting. The most killing 

 shape in whlich to cut a pork rind is to take a strip 

 about two and one-half inches long and one inch wide, 

 cut a forked fish tail in one end and similar forks to- 

 ward the center, one on each side of the strip, and 

 trim the remainder to one-half inch in width; then in- 

 sert one of the treble hooks in the narrow end. This 

 size is about right to use upon a No. 4 Skinner spoon. 



This bait is a most killing lure for both bass and 

 pickerel; the pendant tails of the pork rind dangling 

 and swaying when drawn through the water, in a par- 

 ticularly seductive and enticing manner. In many in- 

 stances a fish, when not feeding well, particularly after 

 a protracted cold spell toward the end of the season, 

 wiill refuse to pursue the too quickly receding artificial 

 bait, when the same fish would seize a mirfnow which 

 lingers sufficiently long in its vicinity to allow of its 

 being mouthed without too much exertion. 



In fact, with all predatory fishes, unless they are 

 feeding freely, the more leisurely the bait is drawn 

 through the water the better are the chances of catch- 

 ing them. 



The nearer the temperature of the atmosphere to that 

 of the water the better fishes feed. If the air is chilly, 

 providing the water is the same, sport may be had; if 

 the water is warm, the atmosphere should be warm 

 also. After a continued spell of hot weather the water 

 becomes thoroughly warmed and the advent of a cold 

 wind or cooler temperature will cause the fishes to 

 cease feeding as though by magic. During a hot spell 



