40 THE BORDER ANGLER. 



enough to impale almost the whole body of the min- 

 now, being entered at the shoulder of a large minnow, 

 at the mouth of a small one, and brought out at the 

 tail, the shape of the bait assuming the curve of 

 the hook, while the upper hook ought to be smaller, 

 and to be passed through both jaws. Any slight dis- 

 crepancy in the size of minnows is obviated by a turn 

 or two of the gut between the hooks round the bend 

 of the upper one. Some anglers use, and Stewart 

 recommends, a drag made of two hooks tied back- 

 to-back at the end of about four inches of gut, and 

 hung on by a loop to the upper hook of the tackle. 

 This is intended to catch, by the outside of the body, 

 trout s which have, risen to, and have missed being 

 caught by, the minnow. Minnow-fishing, as much as 

 any other branch of the art, requires to be practised 

 with skill and dexterity; and when so managed, large 

 trouts are the result. The line ought to be leaded, 

 and, when the water is clear, streams ought most to 

 engage the angler's attention although here, too, he 

 should diligently search out the likely places for large 

 fish. In floods, the tail of the stream and the eddies at 

 the side are best suited for this lure. He ought not to 

 indulge in indiscriminate spinning over every kind of 

 water, as that is mere waste of time ; but in all cases 

 he ought carefully to work his minnow to the very 

 side before lifting it out for a new cast, as trout often 

 follow the bait, and only seize it when it seems about 

 to escape into some shelter at the edge. The dawn 

 and the gloaming are alike auspicious to the minnow - 

 fisher. 



