THE COMMON BROWN TROUT. 263 



a rake. This arouses the creepers, and they drift into the net. They 

 are horrid looking objects, but their efficacy overcomes one's repugnance. 

 April or May is the best month for their use. In fishing with them, 

 those in the best condition not the largest, but the yellowest should 

 be selected. They may be kept for days in an ordinary canister, with a 

 little wet weed or sphagnum moss. 



The tackle necesary is a length of gut about four feet or more of 

 fine texture, and a sort of adaptation of the Stewart worm tackle, i.e., 

 two No. 7 hooks tied closely together on the gut. Take the creeper and 

 pass the lower hook crossways a little above the tail, then take the 

 upper hook and put it through about the shoulder, according to the size 

 of the bait. Thus the creeper is effectually kept in a stationary position, 

 and it therefore lasts longer than would otherwise be the case. A split 

 shot may, in very rapid streams, be pressed on the gut about a foot or so 

 above the bait, but ordinarily this is not wanted. They are most useful 

 in a swift stream, but care should be taken not to allow the bait to sink, 

 as it is so very tender that it either comes off in such a case, or it is so 

 damaged as to be of but little subsequent use. The cast must be made 

 upwards and outwards, and the eye ought to take note, as well as the 

 wrist, of any stoppage in the course of the creeper. Strike at once on 

 any such stoppage appearing, It should be noted a fact I forgot to 

 state before that the creeper is not always the larva of the stone fly, 

 but occasionally belongs to the Palidce. I have found them develop into 

 the P. marginata. 



MINNOW SPINNING. 



Spinning for trout is known to be one of the deadliest, perhaps the 

 deadliest, legitimate method of taking the fish. Under the word " spin- 

 ning," of course, I include (as the bait are real) small fish, and such 

 artificial devices as may have been or are found efficacious. I will divide 

 the subject into two sections spinning with the real and spinning with 

 the artificial bait. 



Spinning with the Real Bait. Why does a trout take a spinning bait ? 

 I think the following explanation from Wheatley's charming book, " The 

 Rod and Line," will perhaps answer the question: "With regard to 

 the trout there is a curious fact he will take a spinning bait even in 

 the midst of living minnows. This singularity must have been noticed 

 by many as well as by myself. It has been accounted for, and, from my 

 own observation, I think correctly, by supposing that a fish of prey will 

 sooner seize upon a brother in distress, a wounded fish, than upon any 

 other, because it is most easily captured. This presupposes something 

 of a human, not humane, feeling, and was exemplified in perfection when 



