386 SALMON AND TROUT. 



name of the Aberdeenshire Dee, where it is well-known and 

 much used. 



Fig. 1 is the flight with a leaden sinker run on to the trace, 

 but in baiting this has, of course, in the first instance to be 

 slipped off altogether — one of the few drawbacks to an odier- 

 wise excellent tackle. Fig. 2 is the flight baited. Thus : 



Having attached a baiting needle to the loop of the strand of 

 salmon gut on which the flight is tied, pass the needle carefully in 

 at the vent of the bait and out at its mouth. The baiting needle 

 is now taken off, the leaden cap slipped over the gut and pushed 

 into the bait's throat until it occupies the position shown in fig. 2. 

 The whole bait and lead are then pressed down on to the triangle, 

 sufficiently to curve the bait by bending its back, in the manner 

 represented in the diagram. The ' nicks ' or slices on the lead are 

 made with a penknife for the purposes of keeping the lead in its 

 place in the bait's throat and belly, but some spinners prefer it 

 smooth, and others with a 'pin-hook.' 



The trace consists of two or three yards of picked salmon 

 gut, with, say, two ' sets ' of very small double swivels at inter- 

 vals, and attached to a light dressed silk running line, such 

 as would be used in fine spinning for pike ; the rod as described 

 for worm-fishing for salmon. A fine lead-wire swivel-com- 

 peller may be added above the top set of swivels to insure 

 against kinking. 



This tackle besides being excellent for spinning for salmon 

 with the minnow, as already described, is also one of the best 

 I know for spinning that most deadly bait in Irish waters, the 

 stone loach or colley, as it is locally termed. The loach, how- 

 ever, to spin well must not exceed three and a half inches in 

 length as a inaximutn. Some further remarks as to the pro- 

 portions to be observed between the length of the bait and 

 that of the lead will be found farther on under the heading of 

 'Lake Spinning for Trout.' 



The best times of year for using the river spinning bait are 

 the spring and late autumn months. For some reason hot 

 weather appears to be destructive of its killing properties, and 



