The Chinook of Monterey 391 
shining sardine is fastened on the hook; the line 
twenty feet from the hook is looped for a few 
inches and held in place by a thread upon which is 
hung a pipe sinker, — that is, a sinker two or three 
inches long, slender and perforated; the loop and 
thread should be very little longer than the sinker. 
The philosophy of this is apparent when the 
strike comes, as the full force will come upon the 
thread, which, when it breaks, liberates the sinker, 
giving the angler the fish alone to play without 
the leaden annoyance. Mr. Whitney has made 
an improvement on this device, often used in sea- 
angling, which is as follows, and which I take the 
liberty of copying from his valuable article in 
the Sunset Magazine : — 
“T have lately adopted a better method of at- 
taching and liberating the sinker, by having the 
four-ounce lead round in tapering form with a 
small ring soldered in one end; up the line six 
feet from the hook and part of it I tie in two 
swivels nine inches apart. I then tie a short 
piece of weak cotton twine to the bottom ring of 
the upper swivel and to the upper ring of the 
swivel below, having threaded the cotton twine 
through the ring of the sinker; shorten the cotton 
twine to four inches in length between the two 
