148 TROUT FISHING 



so quickly as I could wish for trout, while in salmon 

 fishing I find a big Devon too heavy and too fond 

 of the bottom. So as a result my use of the baits 

 is strictly limited. At one time I was very fond of 

 some Devons made of clear quill, and I found them 

 quite killing among some trout that knew a deal 

 about the ways of the world. The trouble with 

 those minnows was that they were rather fragile 

 and were apt to lose their metal fans. If quill 

 minnows could be made all in one piece, with quill 

 fans, I think they would be excellent. 1 The Wagtail 

 is rather good for big trout and so, sometimes, is 

 the spoon. But it would be hard to find any well- 

 made artificial bait which would not do execution, 

 and I should be about equally hopeful with anything, 

 having, however, first regretted that it was not a 

 natural bait. 



In an earlier chapter I touched on the drop- 

 minnow, an art which is closely allied to spinning, 

 though it is different in essential points. I then 

 extolled its merits for fishing small overgrown brooks, 

 and there is really not much more to say about it, 

 except that it is extremely deadly in other waters 

 too. On some of the Border rivers they know all 

 about the drop-minnow, and many is the fine trout 



1 The pretty celluloid minnows made by the Dreadnought 

 Casting Reel Company, Newport, Isle of Wight, to a great 

 extent meet this need. I have found them good for both trout 

 and pike in clear water. 



