WINTEE ANGLING. 



BY 



FRANK S. PINCKNEY. 



THE best winter angling is to be had in that charm- 

 ing interval between the hallowed old holidays and that 

 sloppy period which, of late years, heralds the slow 

 approach of spring in these our latitudes. 



The practice of angling at this season of the year for 

 large trout, immense black bass and preternatural 

 mascalonge, has grown of late to proportions which 

 seem to warrant some special mention of so delightful, 

 if unseasonable, a sport, as well as some brief descrip- 

 tion of the tackle and paraphernalia required for its 

 fullest enjoyment. 



To the winter angler a first-class outfit is of prime 

 importance. The poles should be of well-seasoned 

 hickory or hard maple, from eight to ten inches in 

 diameter, in sections about three feet in length. These 

 need not to be divested of their rich covering of bark, 

 curved, bronzed and lichened, but should be fitted, 

 fresh from the sheltered pile, with careful skill into an 

 old-fashioned open fire-place, about which, in years 

 agone, the angling forefathers of the angler of to-day 

 told marvellous tales of deeds of "derring do" with 



