THE MINNOW — THE STICKLEBACK. 339 



If you want them for bait — and the minnow, as all 

 anglers know, is an irresistible lure for perch and trout 

 — there are several ways of catching them : with a casting- 

 net of small mesh; with rod and line in about two or 

 three feet of water, your bait a scrap of worm or gentle 

 on a very small hook (or even without a hook), and 

 touching the bottom ; or with what is called a minnow 

 net. This latter " engine," as the Acts of Parliament 

 term it, is simply a small shallow net on an iron hoop of 

 about eighteen inches diameter, which is let down into two 

 feet or less of water, and drawn up at intervals of a 

 quarter of a minute or so, when the minnows which 

 happen to be disporting themselves over it are transferred 

 to the " upper air," if they are not pretty quick in their 

 movements. Minnows are said to be the most inquisitive 

 of fish, and unable to resist the temptation of investigating 

 the net, to which it is often the custom to attach a few 

 small pieces of red cloth, which still further excite the 

 curiosity of Phoxinus and conduce to his capture. A good 

 minnow-trap consists of a large glass jar, with a perforated 

 metal top, and the bottom constructed like the mouth of 

 crab, lobster, or eel pot. I believe such were made years 

 ago, but I never saw one till the other day, when they 

 were shown by Mr. Alfred, of Moorgate Street, at the 

 Piscatorial Exhibition at the Westminster Aquarium. 

 There are few more interesting inmates of a fresh-water 

 aquarium than these pretty little fish. 



Associated by some, and confused by many, with the 

 minnow, is the Sticklebat, written " Sticklebag " by 

 Izaak Walton, and also called " Stickleback" or " Prickle- 

 back." Small boys almost invariably seem to my ears to 

 pronounce the word as if it were ' ' tiddlebat " or " tittle- 



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