142 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



without a spoon ; it is not only more logical, but 

 more sportsmanlike. Give the fish a chance, 

 also, and of two evils let it choose the least by 

 using them separately. Seriously, the spoon is 

 a most alluring and attractive bait in itself. Its 

 bright and shining appearance when spinning 

 and glancing through the water is well-nigh 

 irresistible to a predaceous fish, and is in itself 

 all that could be desired as an effective lure. 



The original trolling-spoon (made by Buell) 

 was the bowl of a dessert spoon, with a hole in 

 the broadest end for the line, and a single hook 

 soldered to the narrow end. It is as effective 

 as the best trolling-spoon made to-day. With a 

 single hook, either loosely attached or soldered 

 to the spoon, one is more apt to hook his fish, 

 and more certain of landing it, to say nothing 

 of the cruel and inhuman practice of using the 

 triangle of three hooks usually attached to most 

 trolling-spoons. 



Manufacturers generally affix a triangle of 

 hooks to trolling-spoons, disguised by a bunch 

 of red and white feathers that are worse than 

 useless. The spoon is made of many shapes and 

 of various sizes, and often of two or three spoons 

 combined. They seem to vie with each other as 



