242 



THE MACKINAW TROUT, 



made up from the cities of New York, Albany, Troy, Roches- 

 ter, and places in the vicinity of the lakes, for a two-weeks' 

 tour in that beautiful wilderness of exuberant nature. A visit 

 to that lonely sporting region will richly repay the money and 

 time spent ' in sweet communion with nature' by a store ot 

 health and contentment exchanged for the worn frame and hag- 

 gard countenance caused by excessive city confinement. 



The rod proper for this description of trolling is the same 

 as that used for striped basse, only it should have a hollow butt 

 and extra top, so that should you be so unfortunate as to break 

 a top, you can easily replace it with another. Some use two 

 rods at one time ; but it requires a skilful and experienced troller 

 to manage two, as the lines are apt to become entangled. To 

 succeed well, you must have an experienced oarsman, who has 

 been in the habit of trolling, and can row you gently and quietly 

 about the lake. They have a mode of rigging hooks to the 

 shiner or minnow a little different from the usual Waltonian 

 method, and that recommended by Hofland, at page 87 ; it is 

 called a train of hooks. These trains of hooks are made on a 

 stout strand of single gut in the following manner. Take the 

 largest and roundest piece of gut that you can procure ; tie two 

 No. 5 Limerick salmon (or No. 1 trout, or smaller, according to 

 the size of the bait you expect to use) hooks to the end of it 

 for tail hooks ; about an inch further up place two others of 

 the same size for back fin hooks ; and about one and a half 

 inches further up one more, for a lip hook ; apply these hooks 

 to your shiner in their regular order, fastening them through the 

 toughest part of your bait/and attach them to your leader, and you 

 are ready for your game. The lip hook can be attached with 

 a small loop so as to slide and accommodate itself to various 

 sized baits. Some prefer more hooks to their train, and put 

 three at the tail and two at the mouth, making seven hooks in 

 all ; others prefer to use one large Limerick hook, say No. 1 or 



