THE SALMON FAMILY. 



257 



bait is generally put on alive: the lip-hook being passed 

 carefully through the upper and lower lips, effectually closes 

 its mouth ; one of the middle hooks is then passed through 

 the back, just beneath the dorsal fin, and one of the tail-hooks 

 through the upper part of the body, near the tail, in such 

 manner as to bend the tail slightly, to insure its spinning, 

 as pictured in the vignette. Two swivels are used: one 

 joining the foot length, on which the gang is tied, to the 

 leader; and another attaching the leader to the line. The 

 rod should be stout, not over eleven feet long, and rigged 

 mth metallic guides and end-piece. The reel (a multiplier is 

 best) should contain not less than a hundred yards of plaited 

 silk line. The leader should be of the stoutest single gut, 

 and seven or eight feet long. A single buckshot is used 

 to sink the bait in water of moderate depth, and two or three 

 when it is deep ; and should be placed at the junction of the 

 line and leader. 



In trolling, it is the custom of the angler to sit on a stool 

 or low chair, with his back to the oarsman ; I prefer sitting 

 on the stern seat, facing the bow of the boat, as it is more 

 pleasant, and enables one to see ahead. Forty or fifty yards 

 of line are allowed to run off the reel. The most likely time 

 for the " Laker" to seize the bait, is when the boat makes a 

 turn, as the minnow is then apt to rest on the bottom, and 

 will recover its animation, and swim about ; and if there is a 

 fish near, he is likely to seize it, when it starts again, as the 

 boat gathers headway. 



There is a constant strain on the line and rod, though the 

 boat may not move fast. But when a fish lays hold, it is 

 known by a backward surge of the rod ; when the angler 

 strikes smartly, the headway of the boat is stopped, and the 

 fish reeled up, gaffed, and lifted in. If the fish is large, the 

 boat is backed towards him, or follows ; and as he likely has 

 17 



