June, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
259 
customers instead of the usual lead 
ones; cheaper you know. On reaching 
his favorite grounds above a certain 
wreck, it seemed that the ones using 
the iron sinkers would get such tre- 
mendous bites that their lines would be 
almost jerked from their hands. It 
■was impossible to lift the fish, and the 
S’QfJXOS' 
lines broke again and again. Tales of 
the marvelous fish inhabiting this part 
of the sea became noised around, yet 
fishermen on other boats visiting this 
spot never seemed to get such wonder- 
ful strikes. To make a long story short 
this captain was fast growing wealthy 
from the sale of his iron sinkers, and 
the popularity of his boat, though no 
one had yet brought to the surface the 
wonderful fish that caused such a loss 
of sinkers. A diver, however, em- 
ployed by the owners of the wreck to go 
b'elow for the purpose of salvage, solved 
the mystery that was causing such ex- 
citement among the fishermen. He 
found that the ledge upon which the 
ship had struck was of iron ore and 
of such magnetic properties — Oh, well, 
what of it, its a good yarn anyway. 
The fisherman on the “Banks” uses, 
as a general thing, what is known as 
the “Bank” sinker (9) and, in order to 
combat the swift tides encountered, 
these sinkers may run up to sixteen 
ounces in weight. Square sinkers, egg- 
shaped sinkers, dipseys and round one3 
too are used. 
The sinkers used in salt water an- 
gling seem excessively heavy to the 
fresh water angler who, very often, los- 
ing sight of the conditions under which 
his salt water brother angles rather 
slightingly refers to the “ton of lead 
attached to the poor fish”. But what 
matters a four ounce lead to some gamy 
warrior of the deep, a channel bass of 
some forty pound or upwards, for ex- 
ample. Besides, there are methods by 
which the lead may be shaken off on 
the strikes: for instance, in fishing for 
some salt water species, where a heavy 
weight is necessary to reach bottom 
and to hold against the current, the 
weight is attached by a thin line that 
may very easily be broken. On the 
strike a sharp jerk releases the weight, 
and the fish may b'e played free of the 
sinker. 
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I N casting, it is well to have the line 
to which the sinker is attached, some- 
what lighter than the line on the 
reel for the reason that, if a backlash 
occurs, the sinker only will go sailing 
on and not the whole works — swivel, 
hook, leader and bait. 
Th|is releasing the weight brings to 
mind 'a queer trick in angling as re- 
lated to me recently. It seems that a 
certain stretch of flat, covered by water 
crabs, etc. The flower pots had lines 
attached to them and run to shore along 
with the baited lines. As the water 
rose and covered the flats the fish came 
in to feed, then the lines attached to the 
flower pots were gently jerked, upset- 
ting them and uncovering the baits. 
For trolling there are three or four 
sinkers that come to mind; one, a flex- 
ible affair called the “Arch” (10) is 
grooved for the line, and it may be 
curved to act as a keel; its purpose, of 
course, is to keep the line from twist- 
ing. The “Jamison Keel” sinker (11) 
combines weight, swivel, and snap con- 
nection, and is a very handy contriv- 
ance, as is also the little rig called 
the “Happy Thought” (12). The 
“Monitor” (13), for trolling near the 
bottom, is still another; it is long and 
smooth, with swivels in each end; its 
object, naturally, is to slip along easily 
without fouling rocks or weeds. 
Another is the “Coin” or rudder 
sinker (14) shaped, as its name signi- 
fies, like a coin, and is slotted nearly 
through at the middle. This lead is 
bent over the line at the slot and helps 
to keep the line from kinking. 
There are lures, too, that are really 
sinkers — the various forms of metal 
squids, for example — a squid is a sinker 
and hook combined. Used for the beach 
it is wonderful what a distance it may 
be cast and the squid is, at times, the 
at high tide, was a choice feeding 
ground of a very timid species of fish. 
They could not for this reason be ap- 
proached by boat, and it was too far 
to cast from shore. Lines with baited 
hooks were laid out at low water and 
covered with flower pots to keep off 
only thing that will attract the striped 
bass. The squid, too, is used in troll- 
ing or it may be used in jigging. Many 
an old lunker of a tide-runner has been 
taken in this way; off shore, in the fall, 
jigging seems to bring the best results. 
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 280) 
