July, 1920 
FOREST AND STREAM 
381 
ence of a great many streams which have 
been steadily planted and also steadily 
fished. The little Pine River, Messrs. 
Miller and McLeod’s preserved stream in 
Wisconsin, which I have so often men- 
tioned, is, I think, something of an ano- 
maly. The small and dark flies do not 
seem to work there, and the No. 6 hook, 
with such flies as silver-doctor, grizzly- 
king, etc., seems to be most desirable 
there. It is only fair to say, however, 
that the smaller flies, such as 12 and 14, 
have not been tried out there so thor- 
oughly. 
Emerson Hough. 
A BIRCH BARK BAIT-BLANKET 
A N old bait which has lost its paint 
and attraction for the fish may be 
changed into a satisfactory lure by cover- 
ing it with birch bark. Split the bark 
thin and lash it to the bait with fish line. 
This trick is good to know for one of 
those days when the fish seem to refuse 
everything — then the birch bark bait is 
apt to tickle their curiosity. 
CATCHING MINNOWS 
M INNOWS are sometimes hard to ob- 
tain with a minnow net, and some 
anglers can’t wait for them to come back 
and feed after they have been scared 
away by the lowering of the net. The 
remedy is to either have patience or to 
use a regular fishing pole. I always use a 
pole when after minnows for bait, as the 
only things that need be carried are a 
few of the smallest hooks obtainable, a 
spool of No. 40 cotton thread, preferably 
black, and some very small corks, while 
most of the minnow nets sold are bulky 
to carry and require an axe to cut a pole 
for them. All that are necessary besides 
the small hooks, corks and thread are a 
pocket knife and some dough for bait. 
The pole can be cut anywhere. 
Rig up your outfit and put a tiny ball 
of dough on the barb of the hook. You’ll 
get minnows only, with maybe a few 
chubs if you fish towards dark, while if 
you used worms the sunnies would beat 
the minnows t® it every time. While 
sunnies are good bait at rare times, the 
minnow is the all around, all the time 
bait, summer or winter. 
It is good sport to go after large sun- 
nies for the pan with this dainty outfit, 
for they can make the light pole bend in 
the same way as a trout does a fly rod, 
giving you a trout fight in miniature. 
More than once when on a camping trip 
with 1 no meat for supper as night ap- 
proached I have caught a half dozen large 
sunnies and skinned them in a half hour. 
Except for the many bones they are ex- 
cellent eating. 
A fair number of minnows caught 
would be 100 an hour. My highest was 
132 in that time. A few bleed at the 
gills and soon die, but the majority are 
unaffected by the hooking and if removed 
carefully with a wet hand they will last 
as long as net-caught ones. 
F. C. Lawrence, Penn. 
A DRINKING CUP 
A N efficient cup or dipper may be made 
out of an ordinary tin can. First 
the rim that is left on the top of the can 
must be*removed. To do this, thrust the 
can in some hot coals. As the can be- 
comes heated, the solder melts, and the 
cover may be forced off with a knife or 
any handy article. 
Then two holes are made in the top 
of the can, near together, as in the dia- 
gram. Put a wire around the bottom of 
the can. Then fasten two wires in the 
holes in the top of the can, and twist. 
Make the wire the desired length of the 
handle. Then fasten the wires to the 
loose wire at the bottom of the can. 
When the wire at the bottom of the can 
is tightened, a good drinking cup is the 
result. The camper will often times find 
time to make such handy articles. 
C. J. POBANZ, Wis. 
TO HOLD THE TROLLING ROD 
P ROCURE a piece of tubing slightly 
larger than the butt of your rod, 
about seven or eight inches long, flatten 
one end with a hammer and bore through 
it a hole large enough to allow entry to 
a large thumb screw. When wanted for 
use, screw the tubing tight to the edge of 
the boat and insert the rod. The tube 
must be large enough to allow the rod 
handle a little play. 
W ITH braided silk fishing lines at 
their present high prices most of 
us would welcome a preservation for 
them. Here is a treatment which pro- 
longs the life of the line and makes it 
float on the surface of the water. Stretch 
the line from two or more nails, breast 
high. Saturate a soft rag with vaseline 
and give the line a thorough rubbing with 
this rag, renewing the vaseline on the 
rag from time to time and making sure 
that it thoroughly penetrates the line. 
When this has been accomplished wipe 
the line once with a dry rag to remove 
any surplus grease. 
Baiting with helgramites the angler 
stands at the head of a riffle or white 
water paying out the line until the bait 
reaches the water just below the riffle 
when there is usually a strike. Best re- 
sults are obtained by this method when 
the sun is high. 
F. C. Lawrence, Penn. 
