104 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



the old-time gunfighters used to 

 tie their holsters down to their 

 thighs by the muzzle, but one 

 can't do much walking that way. 

 A little idea practiced by my- 

 self and perhaps others as well, 

 is to run a light narrow strap 

 through the belt loop on the 

 holster. Bring this down low 

 across the thigh and it holds down 

 the holster securely without in- 

 terfering with walking. Try it 

 and see how you like it. 



THE ALDER BAIT 



BY HAROLD W. GREENE 

 When I saw your article in the 

 March OUTER'S BOOK about the 

 Fishing Kink Contest, I called the 

 Littlest Lady's attention to it, and 

 she said, "Why not describe the 

 Alder bait?" The Alder bait is 

 one of those makeshifts that you 

 stumble upon while knocking 

 about on the lakes and streams. 



One day I packed the cooking 

 outfit and fishing tackle into the 

 canoe, handed the Littlest Lady 

 into the bow, and stepping in, 

 shoved off. It's only a little 

 stream, but very pretty, and the 

 only nice one within our reach 

 for the occasional Saturday after- 

 noon and Sunday that we have to 

 ourselves. 



After paddling about three- 

 quarters of a mile upstream, 

 trolling and casting for pickerel 

 on the way with indifferent suc- 

 cess, we came to our usual camp 

 site. The Littlest Lady laid out 

 the kit while I gathered wood for 



the "Injun" cook fire, and after 

 eats had been disposed and camp 

 tidied, the Littlest Lady wanted a 

 lesson in bait casting. So the 

 canoe was hauled way ashore to 

 give plenty of room, with no ob- 

 struction on the bank. This made 

 good casting across the river. 



The rod is a Jim Heddon and 

 I had on a Dowagaac minnow 

 when she cast, and did it well, too. 

 But she failed to retrieve it fast 

 enough, so the plug got hooked 

 on the bottom. I cut it loose and 

 she cast again, but let it overrun, 

 and it landed in the brush on the 

 other side. Once more I rescued 

 it, and in a short time it was hung 

 up again, so I decided to over- 

 come this nuisance. 



I cut a young alder shoot about 

 a half-inch in diameter and three 

 or four inches long, notched it 

 around about a quarter of an inch 

 from the larger or butt end and 

 with the end of the line bent two 

 half hitches into the notch. This 

 worked fine the first time, for it 

 floated, while the bird's nest was 

 straightened out, but it darted and 

 revolved so in retrieving that the 

 line was all kinked up into snarls. 

 I cut the line about two inches 

 above the half hitches and whipped 

 out the kinks, then fastened the 

 ends with a swivel between (illus- 

 tration No. 1) to overcome the 

 kinking. Then I gave the Littlest 

 Lady another illustration in the 

 art of placing the bait and thumb- 

 ing the reel, and showed her how 

 to spool level while retrieving. 

 The stick dove and darted this 



