374 



SALMON AND TROUT. 



becomes a comparatively easy matter with a quick eye and a 

 steady stroke to transfix him with the trident and transfer him 

 to the bait basket. The loach has the very ostrich-like habit of 

 conceiving its body to be hidden whenever its head is, and 

 thus facilitates materially the operations for its capture. 



In all lake spinning the best plan, nineteen times out of 

 twenty, is to trail the bait behind 

 the boat, and the farther off, 

 within reason, the better the 

 distance being to a great degree 

 regulated by the depth of the 

 water. The weight of the lead 

 also must be correspondingly 

 increased or diminished, and 

 should be used either fixed or 

 ' removable' as already indicated. 

 When you have a ' run ' the 

 fish ought to be at once sharply 

 struck, and the boat stopped. 



In artificial baits of all sorts 

 I have not a very robust belief. 

 As, however, natural baits can- 

 not always be obtained, and as, 

 indeed, it would appear from 

 the Sporting Press that other 

 fishermen's experience on the 

 subject differs from mine, I 

 may mention one or two kinds 

 of artificial baits which seem to 

 possess special recommendations. 



First, there is the time-honoured ' phantom minnow,' both 

 blue and brown, which has many admirers, and after thai 

 follows an army of less known nondescripts of all kinds, 

 ' Archimedians,' ' water witches,' ' mermaids,' and what not. 

 All or any of these may or may not be good ; unfortunately the 

 life of any one fisherman is too short to give them all a fair 



1 CLKOPATRA BAIT.' 



