STRIKING OF THE FISH. 149 



slacken the line for a second or two, and then, with a 

 slight jerk of the rod upwards, recal it. He will find, 

 in three cases out of four, (unless the trout, being over- 

 fed through a long continuance of flooded water, bite 

 shyly) his fish hooked. Again, in the other case, 

 should he descry the assailant on its approach towards 

 the minnow, he ought, by no means, either to suspend, 

 quicken, or alter the spinning, until its intentions are 

 further completed by the seizure of the bait. And 

 here, as in salmon fishing, lies the difficulty, at least to 

 a beginner in the art, who is apt, immediately on per- 

 ceiving the trout, either to strike, and in doing so jerk 

 from it the lure, or else to check too rapidly its motion 

 and thus undeceive and alarm his prey. Against both 

 these errors, it behoves the angler to be on his guard, 

 and at the same time, to use such preventives, (of 

 which, in fishing with the minnow, I know of none 

 better than heavy leading), as will act against their oc- 

 currence. 



It very frequently happens that a fish, which has 

 followed this bait for some distance below the surface, 

 unawares to the angler, will make no attempt to seize 

 it, until brought close to bank or the margin of the 

 stream. Accordingly, great caution ought to be exer- 

 cised by the craftsman in the lifting of the minnow. 

 He should always exhaust or complete his cast. On no 

 account ought he to break it off abruptly or in midway. 

 The sudden and uncalled-for abstraction of the bait 

 before edging, loses him many a good trout. This, at 

 the time, is not always made evident, but it is not the 

 less an undoubted fact. In the case of bolder fish, like 

 the pike, it is better manifested; these, when trolled 

 for with a spinning lure, withhold their attack, four 

 times out of five, until it is within a foot of the margin ; 



