162 THE PRACTICAL ANGLER 



some detached piece of water ; in which case the 

 mud should be stirred up before commencing, when 

 they may be captured with great ease. 



When a shoal of minnows is in a corner, they 

 may be captured without much difficulty. The 

 small hoop-net will secure a good many, but a much 

 more efficient plan is to have a net tied between 

 two sticks, about two feet separate, with the lower 

 end of the net leaded. This is wrought quickly up 

 into the corner, and as it lies close to the bottom, 

 very few minnows escape. By this means as many 

 minnows may be taken at a single haul as will last 

 a week. This is the only kind of net we carry with 

 us when angling, as it goes into little bulk, and a 

 couple of sticks with which to use it can be picked 

 up at the water-side. 



The great difficulty, however, lies in catching 

 minnows when they are in the open stream. For 

 this purpose we use an oblong net, about two yards 

 wide and as many long. This should be attached 

 to two sticks, with the lower side of the net leaded, 

 and a few corks put on the upper side, so as to get 

 as much opening as possible. The angler should 

 then place it at the side of some stream where the 

 minnows are, and chase them into it. That is the 

 most reliable of all the methods of capturing min- 

 nows. A net of the size just mentioned, with the 

 mesh sufficiently small, would cost several pounds ; 

 but a piece of light canvas, which will do equally 

 well, and of which we make all our nets, may be got 

 from any seedsman for a mere trifle. 



