MINNOW-FISHING FOR TROUT 143 



draw " bait. To prepare the tackle, you take a 

 single hook, about No. 3 (Fig. 33), and, having 

 tied it to double or extra thick gut, slide upon 

 it a barrel lead or sinker (Fig. 66) ; let this be 

 plugged, so that the lead stays as shown. To use 

 it, a bait of suitable size is selected, it must be 

 dead, of course, or you will kill it ; and, if dead, it 

 must be fresh, and a baiting-needle (Fig. 67), 

 made by turning the end of a thin, piece of iron 

 or brass wire, is attached to the loop of the gut 

 by the eye. The needle is now entered into the 

 fish by the mouth, and brought out exactly in the 

 centre of the tail ; the gut is drawn through, and, 

 finally, the lead is pulled into the stomach of the 

 bait, leaving the hook to hang around its mouth 

 sufficiently rank or outstanding to easily hook any 

 fish that swallows it. The tail of the bait is tied 

 round with a piece of thread, to keep the gut from 

 tearing out if the tail catches in anything ; and the 

 piece of tackle is now ready to be attached to the 

 reel line. The latter should be fine, and not a 

 heavy one, and the rod needs to be light and 

 moderately pliant. 



Having attached the bait, a few yards of line 

 are drawn off the reel with the left hand, and the 



