MISCELLANEOUS TACKLE 83 



and a swivel snap at the other. By all means get a 

 few of these. They are usually 6 to 8 inches long, 

 and cost about 15 cents each. The heavy jointed wire 

 traces are good for very large fish, 



Plain hooks are used only occasionally by bait casters, 

 and then with natural bait. Either the hand forged 

 O'Shaughnessy, the sproat, the Model Perfect, or the 

 Cincinnati bass, will be found satisfactory. Special 

 hooks will be discussed in the proper place. 



A few plain ringed or Rangely sinkers should be car- 

 ried by the caster for still fishing, but the caster's fa- 

 vorite sinker is the swiveled dipsey, used as extra cast- 

 ing weight with spinners and other light lures. Num- 

 bers 7, 8, and 9, weighing J^, J4, and % ounces re- 

 spectively and costing about 35 cents a dozen, are the 

 most useful. Of particular usefulness is the snap swivel 

 sinker, which is simply an ordinary cigar-shaped sinker 

 with a swivel snap at one end just the thing for added 

 weight to small bodied plugs. Another useful sinker 

 with a swivel snap at one end just the thing for adding 

 weight for live bait and to make it ride right side up 

 in the water. These types of sinkers weigh about a 

 quarter of an ounce and cost 10 cents each. 



Stringing the fish through the gills and dragging 

 them all over the lake is hard on the fish and frequent- 

 ly drowns them. It is better to kill the fish immed- 

 iately and then string them. The stringer with little 

 hooks that go through the fish's lips and leave the gills 

 untouched is an improvement in stringers. A stringer 

 with a sharp stringing needle is useful as the needle 



