KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



143 



torn of the river and puts the bait 

 where it can move with the cur- 

 rent and where the fish can see 

 it. A trot-line staging fixed in the 

 old way lies flat on the bottom of 

 the river and often the minnows 

 or crawfish used for bait get un- 

 der small rocks or leaves with the 

 hook and fish never find them, so 

 that the fisherman comes to the 

 conclusion that fish are not biting. 

 Frequently when minnows are 

 used for bait, crawfish chew them 

 off and the fisherman thinks gars 

 or other fish have stolen the bait. 

 A staging held up with the cork 



a thick cushion in your pack, 

 which is always so full anyway, 

 is not to be thought of. There- 

 fore, a stuffed seat cushion gen- 

 erally gets left at home on ac- 

 count of space. 



I went to the carriage trimmer 

 and got a piece of buggy top and 

 made a cushion 12 by 14 inches. 

 Sewed it all around except one 

 end. which was left open, and 

 in this open end holes were 

 punched at intervals for shoe- 

 string lacings. This now folds 

 flat and takes up only a little 

 space, and when I get to my desti- 



float swings free and every bait 

 is visible. Fishermen who will 

 try this will find that trot-line 

 fishing will give them far better 

 results than the old way. 



A BOAT CUSHION 



BY J. W. DE LONG 

 I expect a good many who, like 

 myself, go fishing for a couple 

 of weeks trip at some distant 

 point, find that a boat seat gets 

 awful hard on the upper side after 

 a few days fishing without a good 

 cushion. Air cushions, when you 

 want them, always have some- 

 thing wrong at least such has 

 been my experience, and to put 



nation I fill it up with dry hay 

 or excelsior or balsam boughs and 

 lace it shut like a shoe. After 

 a few days if it gets too flat, un- 

 lace it and fill it up and you have 

 a dandy. 



LEADERS FROM HOOK 

 SNELLS 



BY C. M. BYERLY 

 Here is a kink I have by which 

 I make gut leaders from the 

 snells of damaged hooks. First, 

 remove the broken or damaged 

 hooks. Then, soak the snells in 

 water a few minutes or until they 

 are soft. (If you try to tie them 

 dry they will crack or break.) 



