SPINNING BAITS FOR SALMON. 121 



minnow seems to liave no attraction for the salmon. The best 

 spinning baits are loach, minnows, gudgeon, eel-tail* and parr- 

 tail. The use of the last-mentioned bait is not to be encouraged, 

 as parr are young salmon, to kill which is illegal. For loach 

 (or colley) and gudgeon, the best tackle is a Francis flight or 

 a Chapman spinner (see page 83). For minnows, there is nothing 

 better than the Dee tackle illustrated on page 72. Loach also 

 spin well on this tackle. Natural baits are infinitely more 

 killing than the artificial; but of these latter the best is, un- 

 doubtedly, a medium-sized phantom minnow; next to this I 

 would place a small, shallow spoon, made of thin metal, and 

 thickly gold-plated on the outside. A new bait, called 

 " Swiveltail," has made a name recently, but I have not yet 

 tried it for salmon. Another new spinner is a salmon-fly 

 with fans at the head, which is sold by Watson & Hancock ; and 

 Hardy's Halcyon spinner (see page 75) is also spoken well of. 

 A trace, with swivels and lead, is, of course, necessary. It need 

 not differ materially from the trace for Thames trout de- 

 scribed on page 92; but most professional spinners for salmon 

 prefer lead-wire, or strips of lead, twisted round the trace, 

 about 2yds. above the bait, to the more bulky sinker illus- 

 trated on page 71. Casting off the reel in the Nottingham 

 style, or with a quantity of line on the ground, as in the 

 Thames style of spinning for trout, is not commonly practised 

 for &\lmon; but either of these methods might be followed 

 with advantage where fly-fishing is useless. As a rule, the 

 bait is trailed after a boat. In rivers where the current alone is 

 sufficient to keep the bait spinning and off the bottom, the bait 

 is often trailed, and the boats work from side to side, gradually 

 dropping down stream. It has been stated, in one of the most 



* It may be useful to repeat here the directions for making the eel-tail bait 

 which are given in " Angling for Pike." Skin an eel to within about 6in. of 

 the tail, and cut off the flesh ; then cut the skin rather more than lin. above 

 the flesh. Take a large sneck or round-bend hook, mounted on stout salmon- 

 gut (on which is a pierced shot), put the point of the hook in at the cut end 

 of the eel, and bring it out about 2in. from the tip of the tail ; then gather 

 the loose skin up over the shot, which is resting on the top of the shank, and 

 tie it tightly round with thread. Next, turn so much of the skin as remains 

 above the tie back towards the tip of the tail, and sew down the edges, so 

 forming an artificial head. These baits can be kept in coarse, dry salt, but 

 should be soaked before being used. This is pike-bait— for salmon it should be 

 about half the size. 



