Minnow- Tackle. 1 97 



No. 8 hooks, baited with a very small minnow. 

 If in making up this flight the second hook be 

 placed a very little nearer to the head hook than 

 to the tail one, the minnow will spin better than 

 if it be placed exactly in the centre. The hooks 

 should not be cut short in the shank, as some an- 

 glers recommend, because a good length of steel 

 in each gives rigidity to the whole tackle, and 

 takes and keeps a secure hold of every fish that 

 bites. Enter the lowest hook about the root of 

 the dorsal fin, and 

 bring it out a lit- 

 tle above the tail. 

 The exact point, however, at which to fix this hook 

 will depend on the size of the minnow. The upper 

 hook is put through both eyes, and the middle one 

 through the back in an opposite direction. In all 

 the kinds of tackle I give, the minnow is baited in 

 precisely the same way, and the barbs of the hooks 

 are allowed to protrude freely. 



I am opposed to the almost universal style of 

 running the minnow like a worm upon one of the 

 hooks, and imparting to it a curve at the tail, as 

 if it were itself a fish-hook. This arrangement is 

 said, by those who adopt it, to make the minnow 

 spin. No doubt it does, but it does more. It not 

 only distorts the natural appearance of the bait, but 

 causes it to revolve in the water with all the energy 



