THE IMPROVED FLOATING NATURE LURES 131 



of the feather, so Hke the waving tail and fins of 

 a minnow. After much testing with or without 

 phimes, the former has been found to have no 

 disadvantage, except that the feathers become 

 ragged from constant cliewing by the fish. The 

 advantage is additional attraction from the wav- 

 ing colors. The long, feathery plumes, especially 

 peacocks' herle, are decidedly more enticing to 

 both trout and bass. That the simple, plain body 

 does catch fish, I have many proofs of my own 

 experience, and I should like very much to dis- 

 card the trouble and expense of feather additions 

 to the minnow's body, and hope to do so when 

 demand calls for it sufficiently to make it gener- 

 ally satisfactory, replacing it with a minnow com- 

 pact and durable for several seasons. The most 

 desirable thing is perfect spacing or placing of 

 hooks, and making the bait swim upright with a 

 rapid motion through the water, which, after in- 

 finite trouble and changes, they now do. 



While I make, on demand for many anglers, the 

 double and treble hook minnow, after thoroughly 

 testing them to be sure they are effective, I rarely 

 use them myself, because, I am sure, one single 

 hook rightly placed does not miss. Trout as well as 

 bass open their mouths wide for the minnow, clos- 



