Chapt. v. Spinning-bait preferred to live-bait. 43 



one, and perhaps not that for a while. And by the or- 

 dinary law of chances the odds are you will come across 

 more taking fish out of the ten or twenty than in the one 

 who happens to live in or near the hole into which you 

 have cast your live bait; and you cannot be constantly 

 moving your live bait or you will kill it. You must 

 just quietly drop him into a likely hole, and leave him 

 to "paddle his own canoe;" whereas with a spinning bait 

 you can take it saunteringly all along that line of weeds, 

 and as close to their edge as you like; you can playfully 

 dally awhile in front of any pet corner; you can hark 

 back after a little respite to where you have seen a fin 

 move; in short you can "paddle your own canoe" when 

 and where you like, and not be at the mercy of your live 

 bait, and then if you can really paddle well, your bait 

 will be as tempting as most live baits, and more natural 

 than a sick one. The sequence in my mind is that a 

 good spinner will kill more jack than a live bait fisher; 

 but of course all depends on his being a good spinner, a 

 natural painstaking one. The live bait lover certainly 

 has one very great advantage, which is of more import- 

 ance than he is probably aware ; that is, that he~is gener- 

 ally more out of sight. Out of mere idleness perhaps, 

 without any preconsideration, he lays down his rod, and 

 sits leisurely down a little way off, and this is in truth 

 the most weighty reason why he should catch more fish 

 than the dead bait spinner, who is perhaps standing pro- 

 minently out in fine relief on the very edge of the bank, 

 and constantly moving his legs and arms in the action 



6* 



