HOW TO SIMN TIN: MINNOW. 



out in this way, by adopting the method tlcs ( iil. d ;l t 

 p. 66 in Nottingham dace-fishing, and depicted in Plate 

 V 1 1 1. fig. 1, p. 284. By this plan the angler can get out 

 nearly twice the length of his rod ; and that is enough to 

 work pleasantly with. 



Some fishermen fish up-stream and some down; but 

 though drawing down-stream has some advantages, yet in 

 doing BO the angler must spin faster than is quite advis- 

 able. To throw slantwise across and downwards when the 

 water is at all coloured, and upwards perhaps when it is 

 -clear, if it be found desirable from the shyness of the fish, 

 may be considered the best plan generally. I do not like 

 spinning the minnow either directly up or down-stream. 

 If the angler is wading, he can either wade down or up, 

 according to the above rule, casting upon either hand, as 

 he goes, and drawing the bait round into the stream below 

 with a steady and moderately fast sweep. While the bait 

 is making the bend round into the stream is, in nine times 

 out of ten, the moment when the fish takes it. Do not 

 *pin too fast, or you run away from the fish ; but spin just 

 fast enough to make the bait spin well, which it should 

 do easily. If a fish makes a dash in the water at the bait 

 but misses it, spin steadily on as though he had not done 

 so, and he may come again. For although a trout may 

 once in a way take a bait when it is checked (and I have 

 known them even to pick it off the bottom), yet a sudden 

 stoppage is more likely to alarm than reassure the already 

 shy fish. There are only certain parts of a stream where 

 fish take the minnow weU ; for instance, in the rough water 

 at the head of the stream for a few yards, and again, 

 though not so well, at the extreme tail ; the body of the 

 stream seldom gives many fish. I do not mean to say 

 that the angler will not get one now and then, particu- 

 larly if the fish are plentiful ; but by far the best place 



