MINNOW-FISHING FOR TROUT 145 



lifted, and a foot or two of the line gathered in, 

 and the bait is again allowed to shoot downward. 

 It is generally at the moment of the headlong 

 plunge of the bait that the trout darts out and 

 takes the bait. If, on drawing up, you find that 

 vicious tug ! tug ! which infallibly denotes a fish, 

 just lower the point of the rod a few seconds, and 

 then strike sharply. In nine cases out of ten you 

 will hook the fish, and must proceed to land him. 

 You will find that in every case your fish will be 

 the largest, not the smallest, of the stream. 



A gang of small hooks (Fig. 68) is easily made, 

 and is very effective if plenty of swivels are 

 placed above it, to prevent the line kinking when 

 the bait revolves, as it will do when baited (Fig. 

 69). I, however, recommend the other " sink and 

 draw " tackle in preference ; though such a gang is 

 very useful to have with one in the event of see- 

 ing a large trout unexpectedly, which will take no 

 other bait. A small artificial minnow is also emi- 

 nently useful at times, and sometimes may replace 

 the natural bait, but not often. 



