In the Angler’s Workroom.—II. 
Artificial Minnows. 
It is a moot question whether treble and 
groups of treble hooks are worth the trouble 
and profanity they cause. Some anglers have 
decided views on the subject, declaring they can 
kill as many bass on single as on treble hooks. 
Certainly the single hook is the more sports¬ 
manlike of the two, and I 'believe the present 
fad for sets of three to five trebles on artificial 
minnows will give way to the single hook, or 
at most three singles. 
R. B. Marston, the famous English authority, 
believes, in the single hook and says he would 
be willing to use it for everything but pike 
fishing. Commenting on the remark of an 
American writer—who held that trebles were in¬ 
vented by the devil—Mr. Marston said pike were 
responsible for the first trebles, and that for this 
fish alone they were perhaps the proper thing, but 
he is not very favorably inclined toward them 
for other fishing. Trebles are put, we fancy, on 
nearly all artificial lures because such articles are 
J made for the jobbing trade by large manufac¬ 
turers. The retail buyers are not exacting, as 
a class. They call for the standard bait, and 
that is equipped with one, three or five treble 
hooks. Asked why they prefer trebles, nine out 
of ten would not know. No doubt manufacturers 
would be glad to equip all their baits with single 
hooks. Their profits would be larger, their 
goods would make a better appearance in sample 
cases and tackle stores, and everybody from 
maker to angler could get along without swear¬ 
ing a blue streak. Trying to put a wooden 
minnow equipped with treble hooks in a box is 
exactly like attempting to put a healthy tomcat 
on his back. When you think you have suc¬ 
ceeded you haven’t; that’s all. And after awhile 
you wish you had not tried. 
Some of the big manufacturers arrange their 
lures so that the hooks can be changed, just as 
a fly-fisherman changes flies to suit prevailing 
conditions. Each spoon or spinner is part of a 
set, the other elements in which consist of four 
to six eyed flies of well known merit. I may 
be prejudiced in their favor, but I have found 
them valuable additions to my tackle because 
they are good killers, and the flies are well 
made. Every dealer keeps them. 
A large number of the wooden minnows, the 
spoons and spinners made for bass fishing are 
equipped with feathered treble hooks, the feathers 
on which are red and white. If bass do not 
take a fancy to such outfits, the angler often 
decides there is something wrong with the min¬ 
now’s or spoon’s size or color when the fault 
really lies in the rooster-feathered hooks. A 
trial of one or two lures equipped with royal 
coachman, Parmachenee Belle, gray drake, Seth 
Green, bucktail, silver doctor or some of the 
hackles on single hooks may alter one’s opinions 
perceptibly and give his single lure wider range 
of usefulness. 
The Tackle Box Outfit. 
Of course if one fly-fishes much his outfit is 
of necessity smaller than if he follows both styles 
of fishing on occasion, but if he goes far afield 
on vacations, he can hardly feel safe without a 
modest tackle box and a few compact articles 
tucked away in it. The tackle box outfit is a 
good deal like the emergency medicine case at 
times, in that either may not seem worth taking 
along until it is needed, and then it is badly 
‘ needed. 
It is a truism that the less one investigates 
the “anatomy” of his reel, the better service 
will it render; but this is not a hard and fast 
rule. If you do take a reel apart, however, do 
the work with a screw driver adapted to the 
purpose. The best one the writer has ever seen 
is obtainable from tackle dealers generally and 
stores that make a specialty of fine tools. The 
blade should fit the screw head slots perfectly; 
otherwise they will be marred and will cut the 
delicate line. The kind referred to has a milled 
stem fitted with a swivel top that fits in the 
palm of the hand so that the driver is held steady 
while the fingers alone turn the blade. Such 
a driver costs a few cents more than the com¬ 
mon kind, but is invaluable. 
t he tackle box file should be very fine. The 
variety known in the trade as a needle file is 
useful. The stem is round, the blade flat on one 
side and slightly rounded on the other, taper¬ 
ing to a fine point. It is somewhat delicate, but 
nicely tempered and will not break if handled 
with ordinary care. With one of these the barbs 
of hooks may be “touched up” if dull, and so 
fine is the edge that one can cut through brass 
or copper wire as with a delicate saw, and small 
repairs require a file of this sort. Any rough 
places on German silver guides, reel seats or 
ferrules can be smoothed with the needle file 
without scratching the surface, though it may be 
followed with a tiny piece of the finest emery 
cloth to insure proper polish. The rouge used 
by machinists on buffing wheels is also good for 
polishing, and if a piece of chamois skin is first 
oiled and then coated lightly with rouge, one 
has a good hand polisher for slightly rusted 
hooks, tarnished trolling spoons, rod fittings and 
reels. The rouge will polish without scratching, 
but for obstinate cases powdered chalk or even 
flour emery may be used. If the latter, see that 
the bit of chamois is well oiled, as the dry emery 
cuts too rapidly for any polished surface. 
The Care of Reels. 
If your reels are not to be used -before April, 
the present is a good time to look after them. 
Some anglers prefer to let German silver reels 
tarnish—as they will in fresh water impregnated 
with mineral substances, and from contact with 
perspiration from one’s hands—but others do 
not. It is true that this tarnishing takes the place 
of the glitter of the freshly buffed reel, although 
German silver glistens far less than the nickel of 
cheaper reels; but it is one thing to let the 
reel tarnish slightly and quite another to per¬ 
mit dust and gummed oil to accumulate until 
the usefulness of the reel is marred. The easiest 
way to polish the frame is with a buffer, but the 
chamois skin and rouge will remove all harmful 
dirt from even surfaces, and corners can be 
reached by folding the leather over a sliver of 
soft pine and rubbing with it. Of course the 
bearings must not be touched. These should be 
cleaned thoroughly with benzine—but do not 
carelessly light your pipe during the operation. 
An old but soft toothbrush and benzine should 
be used on gear and pinion and all bearings, and 
in order to be sure the parts are cleared from 
gummed oil, examine them when dry under a 
microscope. 
This inspection should be minute. A good 
reel is to a certain extent a delicate machine, 
and although you may not remember it, it may 
be that you dropped rod and reel at some time 
last summer while fishing. Perhaps you have 
wondered why its song has a harsh note, but 
still it seems all right. If any of the bearings 
show wear where they should be smooth, or if 
the cogs of pinion or gear have any rough spots 
—the cogs resemble the teeth of a huge saw 
under the glass—send the reel to its maker post 
haste. He alone can put it to rights. Otherwise, 
when *all the parts are absolutely clean, put the 
reel together again, using the second hand of 
your watch to determine its correct adjustment, 
as described in these columns not long ago. 
Every reel should have a chamois bag if it is 
not provided with a chamois-lined sole leather 
case. Then put it away in the tackle-box, mak¬ 
ing a mental note to oil it slightly the night be¬ 
fore you go away fishing the first time next 
spring. 
Beginners may sometimes fail to notice an 
important point in connection with the timing 
of the reel for adjustment by the watch. The 
present-day quadruple multiplying reels—some 
of them, at least—will spin longer, but this is 
spool is horizontal than otherwise, but this is 
not a fair test, as in casting with the short rod 
the hand is turned to the left, (i) to insure the 
line running through the guides and top with¬ 
out fouling the rod, and (2) because there is 
less friction on the bearings of the reel when it 
is held handle up. In timing his reel the novice 
will naturally turn the balance handle from left 
to right, and if it spins, say 21 seconds, he will 
put that down as its time and never stop to 
consider that he is turning it backward, or in 
the direction the handle turns while the spool 
is taking up the line—where smoothness and 
speed do not so much count. Another thing, if 
his reel^ has spiral gears, as many of the best 
reels have, its spool may not revolve so freely 
in recovering as in delivering, and therefore he 
will not gain a fair knowledge of its capabilities 
for casting unless he spins it from right to left. 
This is more difficult to do with thumb and finger, 
because of the form of the balance handle, and 
a better plan, and one giving more accurate re¬ 
sults, is this: Take a piece of small cord and 
wax one end. Lay this end on the spool spindle 
and wind over it, just as you would with a cast¬ 
ing line, always winding a given length of cord, 
say 12 inches. Hold the reel firmly in one hand, 
handle at top, and when the second-hand of your 
watch is over a given point, pull the cord evenly 
with the other hand until it comes away from 
the spindle—just as a boy spins a top. Pull 
steadily, exerting not much more force than 
would the half-ounce weight in a cast. Your 
reel will spin just as it would in casting, and 
the method insures steadiness and uniform re¬ 
sults, as you will find after two or three trials. 
If the reel is made of hard rubber with bronze 
or brass parts, on taking it apart you will find 
considerable verdigris under and in the teeth of 
the gear, and this as well as the gummed oil 
must be cleared out. A good reel is a constant 
source of pride to its owner if he appreciates 
it, and while few other mechanical “contrivances” 
are called upon to and do withstand so many 
severe shocks and strains, a little grit in its 
vitals will work as much havoc to it as a small 
pebble in your shoe will to you. Neither one 
is fatal, but may have a bad effect in time. 
The gears and pinions of various reels differ 
slightly. Some mesh closely, the leaves of the 
pinion fitting rather tight in the teeth of the 
large gear wheel. These require rather thin oil, 
but do not use any of the thin bicycle oils, some 
of which contain substances of no value to reel 
mechanisms. Ask your tackle dealer for the 
best reel oil or obtain a bottle from a watch 
maker. An ounce of reel oil should last several 
seasons if properly used. It must be applied 
sparingly and only on clean parts. The larger 
the reel, generally, but not invariably, the heavier 
the oil may be. and some salt-water reels work 
well if petroleum jelly or graphite is applied to 
the gears, though nothing but the best oil should 
be applied to the smooth bearings. If, when oil 
is applied, the reel seems to be jammed and will 
not spin freely, it is a good sign that the gears 
are gummed up, or that too much or too heavy 
oil has been applied. Clean thoroughly and try 
again with less oil. It is possible to completely 
