260 Book of the Black" Bass. 



spoon-baits' are Brightly burnished, it matters not what 

 the material is, for the black bass is not a judge of metals, 

 but will grab at any thing bright and in motion. 



The depending hook or hooks may be plain, or dressed 

 with a tuft of feathers or braid, called, by courtesy, a 

 " fly ;" but these fanciful additions, while pleasing to the 

 angler's eye, do not enhance the " taking " qualities of 

 the lure, for it is the flashing and glancing of the revolv- 

 ing spoon that attracts the fish, and it can not be made 

 more effective by these ornamental appendages, or, a3 I 

 have sometimes seen, by the addition of a live minnow, 

 or a strip of fat pork! 



One or two brass swivels should always be attached to 

 the spoon-bait or line, ' to prevent twisting or kinking. 

 Particular attention should be paid to the hooks of troU- 

 ing-spoons, for many of them axe of inferior quality. 



The trolling-spoon has its legitimate vises, when it is 

 properly made and judiciously employed. There are sitvi- 

 ations where the small revolving spoon with a single hook 

 can bo cast with a lifrht rod and still remain within the pale 

 of legitimate angling; but there is never any excuse for 

 using more than a single hook. 



As a rule, most persons use spoons too large for black 

 bass, using generally pickerel baits. For the black bass, 

 the spoon should be no larger than the bowl of an ordinary 

 sized tea-spoon, for trolling with the hand-line; and when 

 trolling with the rod, they should be still smaller. 



I am glad to note that some of our progressive manu^ 

 f acturers ' have become convinced that a single hook is 

 better for trolling- and "casting-spoons than the triangle or 

 triple-hook, and at the same time more humane. It is a 

 pleasure to Tneto mention some of them, in this "connec- 

 tion, with a description of their wares, for I have long 



