32 ANGLING. 



how it was I did not hook, or even touch him, when I saw 

 a bait with ten or eleven hooks on it disappear apparently 

 into his cavernous mouth. When you have hooked your 

 fish, take care that you do not let him have any slack line ; 

 this advice, though good for all kinds of fishing, is extra 

 good in spinning. 



When the water is rising after rain is always the best 

 chance for the spinner for small trout. The fish are all 

 then on the look out for stray food, and will snap at the 

 minnow freely. Minnows are often difficult to get fresh at 

 the time they are wanted, and if you have no tank or 

 corfe to keep them in, the only way left is to preserve 

 them. Some persons salt them ; but, though I hold the 

 opinion that fish like the taste of salt, it destroys the 

 colour of the bait, and makes it so soft that it will hardly 

 stay on the hooks at times. The best way is to get a 

 ] >irkle bottle, fill it with minnows, and then pour in spirit 

 up to the bung. It will not require very much, and the 

 very best spirit you can employ is pure spirits of wine. 

 It keeps the bait bright and well coloured, toughens it, 

 and has comparatively little smell to it, which is not 

 always the case with some spirits. I have seen them kept 

 in good spirits of wine in fine order for a twelvemonth and 

 more. Be sure you do get pure spirits of wine, for if you 

 get methylated the smell is most objectionable to the fish. 

 I have heard that a bottle of glycerine does equally well, 

 but I have never tried it. If it does as well it would do 

 much better. To carry a few minnows out with you alive, 

 a soda water bottle with a quill through the cork is a very 

 good plan, you may easily accommodate and keep a score 

 or more thus, now and then changing the water. Always 

 kill your minnow and see that it is quite dead before 

 putting it on the hooks ; take care of this, not only to 



