Artificial Baits. 365 



Other trolling-spoons or baits are made in fanciful 

 shapes; also many styles oi minnows, propellerSj spinners, 

 etc., but they are no better, and many of them not so good 

 as those before mentioned ; for the nearer a spinning spoon- 

 bait approaches the original spoon, already referred to, the 

 more practical and useful it becomes. 



There is nothing in this line more beautiful than the 

 abalone shell spoon ; and it will always be a " spoon," for 

 being made of shell it can never be bent or twisted into the 

 fanciful forms of some of the metal ones. It is very ef- 

 fective as a liire, and the smallest sizes are well adapted 

 for the fly-rod in broken waters. 



Aetijicial Minnows. 



Artificial minnows for trolling, spinning, or casting, are 

 made of metal, glass, wood, and rubber, large and small, 

 and gilded, silvered, or painted in attractive ways. Some 

 of them are quite successful as baits, while others are com- 

 paratively worthless. They are made both in our own 

 country and in England, and as their numbers, and styles, 

 and forms are constantly increasing, I do not deem it ad- 

 visable to particularize or give special descriptions. While 

 I have experimented with many of them, I do not employ 

 them in angling for the black bass. 



For trolling or spinning, none of them are so effective 

 as the spoon-baits; while for casting, they are not to be 

 compared with the natural minnow, alive or dead. The 

 most effective are made with soft rubber or silk bodies, with 

 propellers, which cause them to spin. The most successful 

 is the " phantom." 



