700 
FOREST ANI) S T R E A M 
New Minnow Shapes with Real Gold and Silver Leaf Bodies. 
Supplementary Notes Concerning Nature Lures 
The Author Here Describes Three of the Best Minnow Shapes 
That Have Proved Deadly on a Moving Line 
By Louis Rhead. 
A MONG the numerous kindly letters re¬ 
ceived from anglers who have succeeded 
in catching fish with nature lures there 
are several that failed, and made inquiries as 
to why they did. There may be other Forest 
and Stream anglers having similar experience 
and it is to these—if there be any—that I would 
like to point out a way to sure success with 
them. All these lures being made to float must 
of necessity be constructed of lightweight ma¬ 
terials which compel certain methods be strict¬ 
ly complied with for general success. 
I am aware most anglers act upon the assump¬ 
tion they are skilful enough, when they get a 
lure, to know how to use it without instruction 
from anybody. But in the case of an entirely 
new idea, in fact a complete revolution of ex¬ 
isting methods, it seems to me advisable to take 
some notice what the inventor has to say con¬ 
cerning them—in addition to their own expert 
knowledge. I must here call attention to the 
fact that the greater effectiveness of live bait 
(especially with bass), is in its continuous 
movement in the water. True it is, we see, at 
times a minnow, frog or crab lying perfectly 
motionless. For obvious reasons they dart off 
with considerable activity the moment they per¬ 
ceive a bass within their vision—in other words, 
self-preservation. 
The same thing applies to imitation nature 
baits or lures—they must be made to act alive 
by the ingenious manipulation of the angler’s 
rod-tip. This essential part of the method soon 
becomes mechanical and the more you are ex¬ 
pert in this practice, the sooner it takes the 
form of a greater delight in the game, viz.: to 
make a lifeless object a living thing, for no 
one can question these lures are accurate imi¬ 
tations in form and color of live baits, and it 
rests with the angler to do his part in giving life 
movement to them. Every angler if he tries as 
hard as I have, can do the same thing—that is, 
to make fish believe they take live bait. It is 
astonishing how much can be done with a trout 
rod-tip in the manipulation of a lure or fly 
in imitating true to life the action of fish food. 
This is seen to perfection in dry fly fishing, so 
far, the most perfectly artistic method in all 
fishing and the very essence of it all is the per¬ 
fection of the rod-tip play. This same thing I 
expect and truly hope anglers will attain with 
these nature lures. 
Now the first important thing is to use the 
right implements. You should have a powerful 
trout rod at least nine feet long (still longer is 
better.) with a stiff yet pliable tip at the end of 
which should be an agate guide and another 
one near the handle a distance of nine inches, 
and between the two the rest should be snake 
guides. A good, yet soft oiled silk line that 
will slide through the guides as easy as grease. 
I now use an imported tapered dry fly trout line, 
because I find it the best and I can if desired, 
put on a fly without vexatious delay in changing 
reel and line. A two dollar single click reel will 
suffice. 
The most important part of all is that you 
use with each and every lure a single bass gut 
leader from three to six feet long, neatly tied, 
without loop, through the eye of the hook at 
one end and the other attached to the line with 
a loop. 
One angler wrote that his frog persisted in 
floating on its back. Yet every frog is made 
the same, of material that so balances as to 
be impossible of itself to turn over when dropped 
in the water. I found out the angler (an ex¬ 
pert) had used a short double gut leader only 
six inches long, which turned the frog every 
time he cast. Another used no gut leader, but 
attached the light dragon fly to a heavy stiff 
oiled line which pulled the fly under the surface. 
Still another sat watching two hours with the 
rod resting on the boat waiting for bass to grab 
the lure lying still at the surface. But he did 
get a strike when reeling in. These are not 
stupid, but only careless mistakes, due to not 
having read instructions that go-with each lure 
when issued in this magazine. 
Every method—every bait—requires some par¬ 
ticular kind of practice to attain success. The 
expert will get ten times more strikes with live 
bait than will the amateur who does not fish 
by method or rule. Casting the plug (western 
style) is a case in point. I spent much time 
learning how to drop a plug properly, then to 
retrieve the line without snap or other troubles. 
These nature lures are not made or intended 
for trolling—except perhaps the larger sized min¬ 
nows. But the frog, crawfish, grasshopper, hel- 
gramite, are all made suitable to cast but the 
short distance of thirty feet—more or less. 
The three minnows here shown have a num¬ 
ber of new features that I hope will be found 
an advance in compactness and durability. The 
improvement is that the belly of wood is cov¬ 
ered over with pure leaf gold or silver, which 
I expect will last much longer and wear better 
than if wound with the more tarnishable silver 
twist and tinsel. As they are floaters they should 
be made to dart swiftly by a quick motion of the 
rod-tip or a pull on the line. If desired, they 
can be made to sink by attaching a single buck¬ 
shot, four inches from the eye. They can be 
used, and are equally good for bass, trout, pike 
or wall eye. 
TO MAKE GUT PLIABLE. 
To make stout gut pliable before tying, a good 
plan is to put a dessertspoonful of glycerine in 
a pint of boiling water; after stirring well, put 
the gut in for three minutes, then tie while it is 
soft. Mr. Marston, Editor of the Fishing Gazette, 
London, suggests that it might be just as well 
not to have the water boiling when the gut is 
plunged into it. This seems to be a sensible and 
safe observation. 
