TO PRESERVE SPINNING-BAITS. 217 



lie about any where until they die. If you suffer 

 them so to lie about, they will lose a portion of 

 their scales, and become less brilliant than they 

 ought to be. Dead bait boxes are made something 

 like sandwich-boxes, some not divided in the inside^ 

 and others divided into little compartments, to 

 keep the baits separate, and so prevent speedy 

 decomposition. If baits are put into bran the 

 moment they are caught, they will soon die, pre- 

 serve their scales and colour, and last good for 

 two or three days. Baits may be kept longer by 

 means of salt or sugar, but you must not have 

 recourse to this mode of preservation unless on 

 some extraordinary emergency. 



Artificial Spinning-baits. The tackle-shops 

 are inundated with varieties of them. The most 

 brilliant are the best. They will all kill fish more 

 or less successfully ; but the very best of them 

 are inferior to the natural bait. When you can- 

 not get that, you must make shift with the arti- 

 ficial substitute. The large brilliant ones will kill 

 in deep lakes, the smaller ones in streams, and I 

 fancy they are most useful when the water is 

 beginning to clear after a flood. The archime- 

 dian minnow of Mr. F. Allies, of Worcester, is 

 deservedly coming into repute, and, in my opinion, 

 ought to rank first amongst artificial minnows. 



