24 PECTORAL-FIN BAIT. 



a false regard to neatness, that there really 

 was not enough left of them to give the bait, 

 together with the hooks, the necessary revolv- 

 ing motion. As regards the objection of not 

 being sportsmanlike, I should hardly consider 

 it worth answering but for the fact of some 

 writers advancing it who really ought to know 

 better; for what real objection can there be 

 to using a bait which, in the first place, makes 

 a considerably brighter appearance in the 

 water than a natural bait would do after a few 

 throws, and which will last for two or three 

 seasons, or even longer, with care ? And I 

 have used one of the pectoral baits for two 

 seasons with the greatest success, and should 

 have used the same one a third season, but 

 unluckily lost it through getting foul. It also 

 saves the trouble of carrying a kettle of baits 

 to the water-side, for although many carry a 

 few baits in a box in their pocket, still they 

 must become stiff by the time they arrive at 

 their destination ; and I think, in common 

 with some of the best Thames spinners (who 

 are allowed to be the best spinners in the 

 world), that a natural bait does not spin so 

 well after it has become stiff as when it is 

 only just dead. 



The artificial baits most in use, and which 

 I consider the best, are the pectoral^fin baits, of 

 which there are several sizes ; with the smaller 

 of these I have occasionally taken a good Trout 

 while fishing for Jack early in the season. The 



