32 FISHERMAN'S LURES 



from which it is nipped off in a surprisingly dex- 

 terous way by trout. Indeed, I have found it very 

 difficult to hook trout with live-grasshopper bait, 

 unless the hook is quite small, No. 6 or 8. Of the 

 several imitations I have made, the red-legged 

 kind has proved most effective. This is made quite 

 large for bass on No. 1-0 hook, and other sizes 

 down to the tiny grasshopper on No. 10 for brook- 

 trout. For brown trout a good size is one that 

 measures one and a half inch body on No. 2 hook. 

 My old friend, the late Wm. C. Harris, in his list 

 of bass baits in The Book of the Basses, entirely 

 ignores both the cricket and the grasshopper; yet 

 it is certain he must often have fished with such 

 excellent live baits that are equally effective for 

 almost all game-fish. I am inclined to think it to 

 be an oversight on his part. No angler can fail 

 to get both agreeable sport and fish if well supplied 

 with a selection of various sizes, even if he has 

 but a fair knowledge of how to play them dry- 

 fly fashion. As a surface bait they are very attrac- 

 tive and must be played to skip over the surface, 

 allowed to float along runways in the same manner 

 the natural insect does, when, by accident, it drops 

 or jumps on the water's surface. Grasshoppers 

 are eagerly taken by all game-fish, for perch it is 



