CHAP. v. The Spoon. 59 



its side ; or it has managed in its lively gyrations to make a tangle of its 

 line, and encircle itself therein; or it is more dead than alive, and 

 looking somewhat suspicious ; or may be it is off altogether, and the 

 angler is in happy ignorance of the fact, and in blissful expectancy of a 

 momentary run at a bare hook. 



My sentiments then are that, if the angler will be at the pains to spin 

 delicately, will take the trouble to conceal himself thoroughly, and will 

 bait his fish neatly with the hooks well concealed, he will in clear water 

 kill more by spinning a dead fish than by using a live bait. 



In coloured water the objections to prominent hooks may not be so 

 pertinent, but of that hereafter. Only here be it remembered that, in 

 live-bait fishing, the hooks must of necessity be obvious, for they cannot 

 be embedded in the flesh as much as in a dead fish. 



I have killed Mahseer with a spoon, with a phantom minnow, and 

 other imitation fish of sorts, and with a dead fish, and there is some- 

 thing to be said for each of them, something that will commend itself 

 differently to different anglers in proportion as they like taking trouble 

 or not. 



The spoon bait is, of course, only an imitation of a fish, and a rude 

 one. So rude indeed, that, to the uninitiated, seeing it only in the 

 hand, it is surprising that anything that swims can mistake it for a fish. 

 Still, when it is in motion in the water, they do so mistake it, and take 

 it freely, so that it is by no means to be lightly esteemed as a lure, and 

 does a great deal more business than would be supposed. One side 

 being copper or gilt, and the other, the inside, being silvered, it flashes 

 as it revolves, and is seen a long way off in consequence. But if too 

 closely inspected, the rudeness of the imitation is so apt to be dis- 

 covered, that it is seldom used in England except in coloured water. 

 As it is in clear water that Mahseer fishing is mostly done, that would 

 seem to place it at a discount in India, but it doesn't, and so long as it 

 rotates sufficiently to give it a life-like motion, the deception is complete, 

 for it is deception, Mr. Angler, deception that you are practising. For 

 choice, the use of the spoon in clear water should be confined to the 

 runs and eddies; for in the quieter waters you could not get it to 

 revolve so rapidly without pulling it faster through the water than is 

 advisable. But fish will take it even in the clear still pools, though in 

 such water the dead bait is more tempting. Still do not think the spoon 

 by any means useless in still water, for many a good Mahseer has been 



