MINNOW AND WORM 14 



that with its aid is cozened out of the deep, still 

 pools even in time of drought. One sometimes sees 

 complaints, especially from the West Country, that 

 streams are being spoilt by too great a survival 

 of old cannibal trout, the big-headed fish of some 

 two pounds which possibly do more harm in a water 

 than good.^ Occasionally these complaints result 

 in a crusade against the cannibals with nets. I 

 believe that a careful use of the drop-minnow in the 

 pools when they are low would mo,terially reduce 

 the number of such fish, and it would be a simpler 

 job than an elaborate netting. 



There is one other use of the minnow of which I 

 was told one autumn when I was salmon fishing a 

 Border river. I have never seen it practised, but it 

 was described to me as being extremely deadly. 

 It consists simply in legering with a dead minnow in 

 an eddy when there is a yellow flood on. There is 

 a bullet on the line about two feet from the hook, 

 the minnow is attached to the hook, and the rod 

 rests on a forked stick such as roach fishers use. 

 The " deid minnow," as it is called, seems to be the 

 local stand-by in certain districts in circumstances 

 where other districts would favour the worm. I 



* Since this was WTitten, Dr, Kniit Dahl has piibHslicd in tlic 

 Salmon and Trout Ma<^azine his very inlcrostinfr experiments 

 with trout ova. Put succinctly the results are : bi<^ parents, bitj 

 ova, big and quickly growing offsprinfj. I think our attitude 

 towards the alleged cannibals needs reconsitlering. 



