72 



ANGLING FOE GAME FISH. 



the water is coloured, or the trout run large. At the end 

 of this length of gut should be a large loop, to which the 

 minnow tackle is attached. 



Of minnow tackles, there are many bad, a few tolerable, 

 but none really good. The trout come at them well enough, 

 but the percentage of pricked fish is terrible. Most Scotch 

 anglers use the tackle shown in Fig. 53, and I am inclined to 

 think that for small minnows it is the best. 

 To bait it, insert point of large hook in at 

 mouth of minnow, and out at end of tail, 

 keeping it as near the spine as possible ; then 

 put lip-hook through lips of bait. The tri- 

 angle should be stuck on outside curve of bait, 

 and is not used at all in very low, clear water. 

 It occurs to me, that the addition of a little 

 red lead on the shank of the hook (as shown 

 in the engraving) might be an advantage, but 

 I have not tried it. A very small Chapman 

 spinner (a good form of which is shown in 

 Chapter lY.) 

 spins the min- 

 now beauti- 

 fully, and in 

 a most attrac- 

 tive manner. I 

 can safely say, 

 from experi- 

 ence, that the 

 fans are disregarded by shy 

 trout. They should be silver- 

 plated. The Dee tackle (Fig. 

 54) is also very good ; in fact, I 

 think it hooks better than any 

 other tackle; but it has its 

 faults : The lead must be taken 

 off the gut, and the gut be 



put through the bait from vent to head by means of a baiting- 

 needle ; and the minnow is apt to get pulled up out of shape 



Fig. 53. Nobth- 

 couNTRY Spin- 

 ning Tackle, 



Fig. 54. Dee Minnow Tackle. 



