Abtificial Baits. 259 



and corrugated ; grooved, ribbed and perforated ; embossed, 

 painted and niekelrplated ; and doubled and trebled, and 

 made to spin around floats and balls and metal minnows 

 and flies, until the brain begins to whirl, and the eyes 

 become dazed in their contemplation. Some are fearfully 

 and wonderfully made, and are the most cruel and murder- 

 ous-looldng instruments of torture ever devised for the use 

 of the followers of the meek and gentle Walton. 



There is nothing better than the original spoon bowl 

 with a single hook. The double and triple hooks, usvially 

 attached to the modern spoons, are liable to be crushed and 

 broken by the jaws of a large fish, if hooked in a position 

 favorable to this contingency. 



Wliy do manufacturers persist in affixing the triple hook, 

 or triangle, to troUing-spoons, when a single hook is so 

 much more efficient, preferable and humane? There is 

 nothing so efl'ective as the single hook for any kind of fish- 

 ing. The fish is more certain of being hooked, more cer- 

 tain of being landed, and if he breaks away does not have 

 his moiith so torn and lacerated as by the villainous triple 

 hook or gang. I have found dead bass with the entire pre- 

 maxillary bone (upper lip and jaw) torn off by these mur- 

 derous implements. I never see or hear of an angler using 

 or recommending a gang of three or more hooks for trolling 

 the live minnow without setting him down as a pot-fisher ; 

 and all humane and genuine anglers — those who love fair 

 play and use light and elegant tackle — should deprecate 

 and discourage the cruel practice. 



Trolling-spoons are all made with a concave and a con- 

 vex surface; the latter surface being brightly polished or 

 burnished, while the former is generally painted, and usu- 

 ally of a red color. They are made of tin or brass, and 

 often plated with nickel, silver or gold; but so long as 



