152 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



towards the net. The current will 

 carry them into the net. Third, 

 use your hands, but always turn 

 your stone against the current. 



There are a dozen ways of put- 

 ting the helgramite on your hook. 

 The best one I believe, is to turn 

 the hook sideways and slip it 

 under the collar. (See sketch.) 



This keeps the barb of the hook 

 from tearing the bug, and they 

 are in better condition for use. 

 I have several times caught four 

 and five bass on one helgramite 

 hooked in the manner described. 

 And don't forget to move your 

 bait every two or three minutes. 

 Otherwise you may find that it 

 has crawled under a stone. 



I have kept helgramites alive 

 two and three months at a time 

 by filling a minnow bucket half 

 up with dry, rotten wood and then 

 putting in the bugs. Keep in a 

 damp cool place (the cellar is 

 good), but never put the bugs in 

 water again until they are on your 

 hook. 



SKINNING THE CAT 



BY CHARLES W. CARTER 

 "There is more than one way to 

 skin a cat." So the old saw says. 

 But as it does not tell of even 

 one good way, I always consid- 

 ered it a perfectly useless old 



saw. What is true of cats in gen- 

 eral is true of the catfish in par- 

 ticular. There is more than one 

 way to get his hide. And I am 

 going to go the old saw one better 

 by giving the one best kink for 

 skinning the cat with neatness 

 and dispatch. , 



First, whittle a hardwood peg 

 the size and shape of a pointed 

 lead pencil. A meat skewer, from 

 the butcher shop does very well. 

 If you are going to have much 

 use for it, whittle it from a broom 

 handle or a hardwood stick of 

 similar size, leaving a comfort- 

 able handle on one end. (Fig. 1.) 

 Next, with the point of the knife 

 slit the skin of your cat from 

 head to tail into convenient sized 



strips. Then holding the head of 

 the fish in the left hand, thrust 

 your peg through under the skin 

 next the head, entering at one 

 slit and emerging at the next one. 

 (Fig. 2.) Now, holding the head 

 firmly, move the peg quickly from 

 head to tail with the same motion 

 you would make in cutting a long 



