488 HAND-LINES IN GREAT LAKES. 



nevertheless if the traveller can do it, of course it is 

 most desirable to proceed well equipped, though a 

 great deal of successful fishing can be done by trailing 

 with hand-lines from boats or rafts, and a rod is by 

 no means essential to success. See for instance the 

 remarks on fishing in Lake Superior, which show what 

 can be done in that way. In large deep lakes and 

 rivers, or in rapidly running streams, a rod is a great 

 convenience, but a good fisherman can get on very 

 well without it. Even fly fishing does remarkably well 

 with a hand-line trailing after a boat. In fishing from 

 banks, among bushes, some kind of rod however will 

 be required, and even in this case a wand of hazel, 

 or some other material cut from the neighbouring 

 thicket, especially when the fish do not run very large, 

 will often answer remarkably well. 



Those who do much rod fishing and trolling will 

 find great comfort, and perhaps escape serious incon- 

 venience, by having the butt ends of their rods fitted 

 with india-rubber knobs, as the constant pressure of 

 the hard ends against the groin (this being the position 

 of the rod generally in fishing) become after a time the 

 cause of considerable irritation in the part pressed against ; * 

 or the " Tarpon Belt " already noticed may be used. 



A very useful American invention for boat fishing 

 is the " Dayton rod rest and holder, " made of nickel- 

 plated brass, which is attached to the boat by a screw 

 cramp. Its weight is under half a pound, and it costs 

 about two dollars. It is said to hold a rod for the 

 angler as securely as in the hand, f and as it is usual 

 to employ two rods, one on each side of the boat, when 



* See Handbook of Fishing, Badminton Library, 1886, Vol. ii., p. i/. 

 j- Forest and Stream (American sporting paper) of May 29, 1890. 



