ROD & CREEL 53 



Traces. Traces should not exceed three feet in length, and 

 may be of strong gut or wire. They should have two swivels and 

 a clip at the end so that baits may be changed easily. 



Leads. Leads will vary according to the kind of bait used, 

 the depth of the water and the strength of the current. You 

 should have them of various sizes up to one and a quarter ounces. 

 The kind is immaterial, the plain oblong shape is as good as any. 

 New ones should be blackened in the flame of a lamp or even with 

 a match before using. 



While there is no fixed rule with regard to leads, and only 

 experience can teach what to use, there is one rule you can 

 always follow and that is use enough lead to fish deep and err on 

 the heavy side. You cannot force your bait down in swift water 

 but you can hold it up of? the bottom. 



Baits. For steelheads your stock of baits need not be very 

 varied but it should be large. You must always fish as near the 

 bottom as possible and often make very long casts into water of 

 only moderate depth and lots of tackle is bound to be lost. 



Silver and Brass Devons, two inches and two and a half 

 inches, or Sanky Minnow of the same size and a supply of prawn 

 tackle is all really needed, though you can also take a few differ- 

 ent coloured phantom minnows. Personally I prefer the heavy 

 slotless Devons (except for very shallow water, where the Sanky 

 Minnows are excellent) as they require little or no lead and cast 

 beautifully. If, however, you prefer those with the slots always 

 take off the side hooks as they are of no use and a constant nuis- 

 ance. 



A prawn is a most killing bait, and if properly put on 

 a single book has a number of advantages over a minnow. In 

 the first place fish give much better sport on a single hook, 

 moreover you are really more likely to land your fish, as some 

 steelheads are so hard mouthed they will often crumple up a 

 treble hook unless it is of the very best and such are often hard 

 to get. Another advantage a prawn has is that it has a smell 

 which an artificial minnow has not and you seldom prick a fish 

 hard enough to prevent him coming again, whereas, with a min- 

 now, one strike settles the fish for the rest of the day. Finally 

 your chances of getting foul of tftie bottom are small compared 

 to baits with treble hooks. 



Prawn tackle can be bought at most tackle shops, but it is 

 nearly all made with double or treble hooks and only suitable for 

 using prawns in deep, slow-running pools where it is used almost 

 like bait fishing. The method I have found most successful in 

 these waters is to bind the prawn on to a single hook in such a 

 way that you really turn it into a minnow and cast and work 

 it in just the same manner only, if possible, work is slower and 

 deeper. Such tackle is very simple and anybody can make it. 



