128 SHOOTING AND SALMON FISHING 



Bristol, is the only man we know of who can supply very large 

 minnows in spring, and the journey to Scotland is usually 

 made without the loss of a single one. When ordering, it is 

 best to give as long a notice as possible, for each minnow has 

 to be caught by hook and line, so that, if several hundreds 

 are required, it means catching fully a thousand. The charge 

 is a pound a hundred, which are forwarded in tins which 

 will easily take two hundred in each ; and whether these cans 

 are kept or returned is optional. The minnows should be kept 

 in soft running water, but beware of spring water, for we have 

 seen whole cans full killed in a few hours by hard water. A 

 flow of water should pass continually through their prison, while 

 about once a week a small quantity of oatmeal should be given 

 them. They are, of course, carried to the river in a smaller 

 tin, which should be placed in the water while the cast is fished, 

 care being taken to fix it so that it cannot be blown or washed 

 away. We have watched numbers of salmon seize this lure, 

 and as a rule it is taken as it swings to straighten the curve 

 of the line, and is a matter of deliberation, though there are 

 occasions when the bait is seized the instant it touches the 

 water. As soon as the fish is hooked, the minnow is blown 

 up the line ; and if not bitten in half, two or three fish may be 

 landed with the same bait. 



It is a rare event to get a pluck whilst drawing in the line 

 to make a fresh cast, and if such does happen, then nineteen 

 times in twenty it will be a kelt that is hooked. It is of little 

 use spinning the natural bait in a stream so rapid as to keep 

 it close to the surface, for, apart from the reality of the lure 

 and the small show made by the arming, the depth to which 

 it can be sunk is also a great secret of success ; therefore, to 

 repeat the expression we gave Mr. Pennell, it is of little use 

 fishing a heavy stream which, as it were, tears at the bait. 



The two best fishers of the natural minnow I have met are 

 my old friends Mr. Digby Cayley and Mr. George Whitehead ; 

 and I believe it was the former who first introduced this lure 



