AND HOW TO USE IT. 59 



Izaak Walton's method of using the min- 

 now was exceedingly simple, though I question 

 if all the ingenuity of modern anglers can 

 invent a better. He used simply one hook ; 

 which being attached to a bit of gut, he 

 simply drew the gut through the gills and 

 out at the mouth; then, repeating the process, 

 and drawing the hook through the fish, the 

 bait was tied, as it were by the gills to the 

 gut; and the hook was then tied to the tail 

 of the bait with a bit of thread ; the point 

 being turned up alongside the tail, nothing 

 could be seen of it whilst spinning in the 

 water ; and the slack of the gut being drawn 

 tight, the tail was pulled aside so as to 

 make it spin; and the minnow being ten- 

 derly handled was kept alive a long time : 

 and with two or three shot placed below 

 the first swivel the bait was kept under 

 water during the process of spinning. By 

 this simple, but exceedingly killing mode of 

 minnow spinning, the veteran Walton pro- 

 bably killed many fish: and he is spoken of 

 by his pupil Cotton as " the best minnow 

 fisher in England/' The best spots for 

 spinning the minnow are mill-tails, flood- 



