RIVER FISH AXD FISHING. 393 



utes. More than this renders them tender, and liable to 

 break. All fish bait should be killed by a blow on the 

 head as soon as taken. 



Live fish form a very common lure for the larger 

 kinds of fish, and they are used by inserting the hook in 

 some part of the body not necessarily vital. This is called 

 roving, and is practised with any of the smaller fish, such 

 as minnows, shiners and the like, in capturing trout, perch, 

 pickerel, &c. The hook is merely entered in the back close 

 to the fin, and the barb is suffered to protrude above that 

 appendage and with the point of the hook directed towards 

 the tail of the fish. The line must be shotted so as to sink 

 the fish to the required depth, and it may be used with or 

 without a float. Some other methods of fixing the hooks 

 have been recommended, by which the hook is entered in 

 one part, then made to traverse the fish under the skin, 

 and finally brought out at the mouth ; but they are so 

 abominably cruel that I must decline having any thing to 

 do with their description. All field-sports are too much 

 mixed up with an undercurrent of cruelty ; but where 

 there is a choice, no man of any ordinary feeling will hesi- 

 tate in selecting the least severe modes of taking game. 



Frogs may be used exactly in the same way as the 

 minnow, by passing the hook through the skin of the back. 

 They must be well shotted, to keep them down, and must 

 be raised to the surface every four or five minutes, to 

 allow them to respire. 



Bait-fish are procured for the purpose of using them 

 as baits, either by angling for them, and carefully remov- 

 ing them from the hook, and then placing them at once in 

 17* 



