352 
Forest and Stream 
A FISHING KINK 
H ere is an idea that originated in the 
old workshop back on the farm 
but it may be of interest to a lot of 
other anglers. 
The home place was skirted on two 
sides by a little meandering stream. 
Here and there it boasted of a pool deep 
enough to satisfy a few bull-heads, 
pumpkin-seeds and suckers. It was a 
happy day when I was lucky enough to 
bring home a mess of sufficient size to 
warrant a meal. Usually the catch con- 
sisted of only one or two of a real, 
eatable size. So I’d plant them in the 
stock tank, and after half a dozen ven- 
tures with the line and pin there would 
be enough in captivity to declare a har- 
vest. 
Those hot, dry days, however, with a 
mile between nativity and stock tank 
sometimes proved too much for the finny 
ones. They died. To get them home in a 
lively state the false bucket shown in 
cut was made. 
From a square of wire screen a circle 
was cut five inches greater in diameter 
than twice the height of the fourteen- 
quart pail used. From this a smaller 
portion was cut from the center, ten 
inches in diameter, and from this to the 
rim a segment was cut So that when the 
edges were sewed together with small 
copper wire, the false pail would just fit 
into the solid pail. The circle cut from 
the center was then sewed into the bot- 
tom, also with copper wire and a stiff 
bail of wire provided. 
Cd/////^ Od// ' 
When on fishing trips both pails would 
be nested together and when the fish be- 
gan to bite the unlucky ones were placed 
in the inside wire pail, half full of 
water. As soon as a move had been 
made, the wire pail would be lifted out 
and set in the running water. When it 
was time to return the pail was filled 
E are depending upon the 
friends and admirers of our 
old correspondent Nessmuk to 
make this department worthy of 
his name. No man knew the woods 
better than Nessmuk or ivrote of 
them with quainter charm. Many 
of his practical ideas on camp- 
ing and “going light” have been 
adopted by the United States 
Army; his canoe has been preserved 
in the Smithsonian Institution; and 
we hope that all good woodsmen 
will contribute to this department 
their Hints and Kinks and trail- 
tested contrivances ^ — [Editor.] 
with fresh water and the fish stood the 
trip in good shape. 
Dale R. Van Horn, Nebraska. 
WINDING FISHING RODS 
1 HAVE been reading in your good 
journal for some time the various 
items written by sportsmen telling how 
to wrap and finish fishing rods and fasten 
the thread without making knots, etc., 
but so far none of them have told us 
how to wrap the guides on and make 
other wrappings without going through 
that tiresome and nerve-wrecking job of 
holding the thread in one hand while you 
hold and turn the rod with the other. 
For the benefit of those who would 
like to wrap their rods with ease I am 
going to describe a jig I made for this 
purpose and which can be made out of 
a cigar bo.x by anyone who can use a 
pocket knife and a small hammer : 
Remove the cover from the box and 
near one end make a deep notch in each 
side large enough to hold the rod when 
placed diagonally across it. At the other 
end insert a stud for the purpose of hold- 
ing a spool of winding silk. To work 
against this spool a tension bar or brake 
should be arranged so as to create a 
tension on the thread when being wound 
on the rod. 
The guides can be tied on before start- 
ing the wrapping and if wrapping is 
desired under the center of the guides, 
it can be put on before the guides are 
placed in position and the width of this 
wrapping must be determined by the 
style and size of the guide being used. 
All that is necessary with this jig is 
to adjust elastic band on tension bar un- 
til proper tension is obtained. This is 
done by placing the spool of thread on 
the stud, then put the tension bar in po- 
sition, put the thread around the guide 
pins and pull the end and adjust an 
elastic so as to exert an even tension 
on the spool. Then place rod or part 
of rod in slots cut in sides, give the 
thread a couple of turns around the rod, 
and be sure to turn the rod toward you, 
holding the rod firmly at all times so 
the thread will not get slack, feed the 
rod back as the thread goes on. The 
fastening of the thread is made the same 
as when wrapped by hand. It is so 
simple to use this jig that it is rather 
hard to give directions for its use. 
I have also read in your journal of 
the troubles some people have with the 
varnish drying and causing the wrap- 
pings to come loose. This is caused by 
wrapping the rod after it has been shel- 
laced or filled. The shellac dries under 
the varnish shortly after the varnish has 
been put on ; this is caused by the tur- 
pentine in the varnish, which kills the 
shellac, so if you want the wrappings to 
hold, the rod should be wrapped before it 
is varnished or shellaced and then after 
the wrappings have been put on they 
should be soaked with varnish and al- 
lowed to stand until they become almost 
dry, then rubbed with- a greasy cloth, 
using plenty of vaseline on the cloth. 
Be sure to use a cloth that is free of lint, 
rub it full of vaseline, fold it until same 
width of wrapping, catch between thumb 
and forefinger and press tight on wrap- 
ping; then turn rod until the varnish 
has become smooth and even ; then allow 
it to dry for a day before putting on an- 
other coat. It is not necessary to rub 
the wrappings after the first time. The 
more the rod is varnished, the more the 
wrappings look like glass if done cor- 
rectly. 
E. F. Edw.ards, Georgia. 
