NEW ARTIFICIAL NATURE LURES 



a live crawfish while it is swimming near the bot- 

 tom, going for it even after it begins to crawl along 

 the bed of the river to hide under a stone. For that 

 reason, sometimes, the same condition will prevail 

 with the artificial lure, and to carry out the natural 

 delusion it may be necessary to place one or two 

 buckshot on the leader near the eye of the hook. 

 If the water is sluggish, one shot is sufficient to keep 

 the lure below, yet suspended above the bottom. 



More success will be apparent if the bait is jerked 

 and kept on the move. No full basket is gained by 

 the sleepy angler, or one who stares around him 

 without thinking what he is about. Bass are ever- 

 lastingly cute ; they are neither sleepy nor foolish. 



Another way — especially good in swift water — 

 is to fasten a dipsey sinker to the end of the line, 

 then have the lure on a two-foot leader, which is at- 

 tached to the line one foot above the sinker. The 

 force of the water stops the lure from sinking to 

 the bottom, but it floats at the same height as tied, 

 according to the action of the water-flow. The 

 sinker should be lifted now and then, to give life to 

 the lure. This method applies also to the helgra- 

 mite, the frog, and various floating minnows, to be 

 tried only if bass fail to rise at the lure when near the 

 surface. 



The reason a live helgramite is so good to use as 

 a bass lure is twofold. First, they are very tough ; 

 second, they are very active, swimming and wrig- 



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