2OO Minnow- Fishing. 



nary way, in the act of biting ; while occasionally 

 they play the part of grappling-irons, and seize him 

 without much discrimination as to the precise 

 locality. So much for the operation of the drag- 

 hooks on shy or playful fish. 



When, however, trout go boldly at the bait, how 

 is the capture usually effected ? At what point do 

 they make the attack? Mr Stewart states that 

 they generally seize the minnow by the tail, and he 

 does not stand alone in this view. Captain Wil- 

 liamson, in a passage quoted by " Ephemera," 1 says 

 "All fish, in seizing a spinning-bait, direct their 

 attacks towards its tail, viewing it as an object of 

 pursuit ; " and then, with strange inconsistency, he 

 adds " Many a very large trout has, however, been 

 taken merely by the lip-hook." " Ephemera's " own 

 position is that " fish generally seize their prey by 

 the middle," 2 and that it is only when they run 

 short at the spinning-bait that they are caught by 

 the fly-hook at the tail. This seems nearer the 

 truth. At all events, through the day, trout almost 

 invariably seize the minnow by the head or shoul- 

 der. All my experience goes to prove this, for in 

 any day's fishing with this lure I have caught 

 nearly all my trout with the uppermost hook ; and 

 I have no reason to believe that mine is an excep- 



1 Handbook of Angling, p. 213. 



2 Ibid., p. 205. 



