132 ON MINNOW AND PARR-TAIL FISHING. 



that the length of the tackle is justly proportioned to 

 that of the bait, the smaller hook is in a position to ad- 

 mit of being readily thrust through its lips, both under 

 and upper, an operation which, by effectually closing 

 them, greatly assists the spinning. Should the portion 

 of gut intervening betwixt the hooks prove slightly too 

 long, the angler has it always in his power to shorten it, 

 by simply giving it a turn over the upper wire, before 

 closing up the mouth of the minnow. His great care 

 should be properly to adjust the bait and regulate its 

 curve. Without attention to this matter, the spinning, 

 at its best, will only prove lame and unattractive. 



Should he, for instance, exceed the mark and double 

 up the body of the minnow, until forming nearly a 

 circle, not only will it turn ill, but present, to boot, an 

 unnatural and deformed appearance, acting as a scare- 

 away rather than a lure or inducement. On the other 

 hand also, when the minnow is made to retain its natural 

 straightness, it loses on the tackle almost all approxi- 

 mation to a living and, consequently, wholesome fish, 

 being rendered incompetent either to spin at all, or so 

 wretchedly as to expose the art of the angler, and 

 render abortive all his attempts to induce trout to seize 

 it. And here, upon these points, I may assert that the 

 tackle now recommended by me proves its superiority ; 

 for there is nothing more accommodating to the desired 

 curve in the minnow than the bend of the larger or 

 lower hook. It conforms indeed, with the greatest 

 exactness, to that very portion of the bait where the 

 curve or turn is required. This hook also, from its 

 comparative weight and other evident causes, operates 

 most beneficially, as a help or occasion to the minnow 

 to spin freely. It is not, however, generally so killing 

 as the upper wire, which, entering the lips of the bait 



