Chapt. v. Vultus instantia tyranni. 11 



rooks, and as close to t In it edge as you like; you cat) playfully 

 dally awhile in front of any pet eorner ; you can hark back after 

 a little respite to where you have seen a fin move; in short you 

 can " paddle your own canoe" when and where you like, ami not 

 l>e at the mercy of your live bait, and then if you can really paddle 

 well, your bait will be as tempting as most live baits. The 

 sequence in my mind is that a good spinner will kill more jack 

 than a live bait fishery but of course all depends on his being a good 

 spinner, a natural painstaking one. The live bait lover certainly 

 lias one very great advantage, which is of more importance than 

 he is probably aware of; that is, that he is generally more out of 

 sight. Out of mere idleness, perhaps, without any preconside ra- 

 tion, he lays down his rod, and sits leisurely down a little way off, 

 and this is in truth the most weighty reason why he should catch 

 more fish than the dead bait spinner, who is perhaps standing 

 prominently out in fine relief on the very edge of the hank, and 

 constantly moving his legs and arms in the action of walking 

 and spinning. How men can think a fish is such a fool as to 

 take a bait, when it sees the " niltim i/i*/antis tyranni" on the 

 hank, I cannot make out. Still they do think it, or at least 

 ignore the visual organs of the fish, and go on fishing all 

 their days after the manner of Hiawatha, jawing at the Sturgeon 



Xama, 



" ' Take my bait,' crie<l Hiawatha, 

 ' Take my bait Oh king of fishes ! ' " 



" Hiawatha's fishing" is a very pretty study of what not to do, 

 unless by the way you really want to get inside a sturgeon, in 

 which case I say good bye and part company, for I am not game to 

 play Ajidaumo. 



[f the spinner of dead bait will be careful to conceal himself 

 from view of his desired prey as thoroughly as the live-bait-lover 

 unconsciously docs, he will not !«• at the great disadvantage he 

 otherwise generally is ; on the contrary, he will be at an advantage, 

 in that he tries 80 much more water with his lure. 



Ami as to his lure, too, I am convinced he is not at the dis- 

 count he is commonly thought to be. If he manages it badly, ot 



curse he cannot expect to fare well, but if he is really a g I 



hand at spinning, his bait will look every bit as natural as a live 

 tish, and, strai iy, sometimes even more so. Watch a live 



