CURIOUS FANCY OF FISHES. 



131 



bright metal trolls, not one Spanish mackerel in ten thousand 

 will pay the least regard to them. Having ascertained that 

 they feed on several kinds of fishes, the squid-makers have 

 recently obtained some data to work from, and the following 

 are the latest and most captivating samples. 



SPANISH MACKEREL SQUIDS. 



A. Artificial squid or bait, made of Britannia metal, block tin, 

 or German silver. The hooks of all trolls should be tinned 

 or silver-plated. The shank of the hook extends through 

 the squid, and forms an eye to attach a trolling-line. Feath- 

 ,ers extend beyond the bend of the hook to form the tail 

 of the gar-eel. The form of the squid is tapering, cylin- 

 drical, and about five inches long exclusive of the hook. It 

 should be kept polished as bright as possible, and is a very 

 taking lure. A tail of red ibis feathers would probably be 

 the most attractive. 



B. Squid as bright as polished silver, inlaid with pieces of 

 pearl, and intended to represent a sea -shiner, about five 

 inches long besides the hook. The line is attached by a 

 hole in the end, and at the other there are several small 

 feathers from the red ibis. The shape of the body is half 

 as thick as it is wide, and in order to render it as ponder- 

 ous as possible for its size, it is best to cast it of lead over 

 the hook, then plate it with copper, and plate or wash it 

 with silver. Spanish mackerel do not generally' feed on 

 fish as large as the bluefish bait, and it is therefore impor- 



