Chapter IX

FISHING-TACKLE

Choice of Tackle

Every boy knows how to go a-fishing, but an intelligent boy is not long in learning that the mere getting of a lot of fish is a small part of the pleasure. That is why he prefers the rod to the seine, one big fish to many smaller ones, one cunning old trout or pickerel outwitted to a basket of stupid fish that contended for the bait. Presently he begins to desire more delicate tackle, and understands that he is fishing for sport, not fish. I take it that the whole art and mystery of angling is how to get the most sport and enjoyment out of it. But how?

To begin with, no one will destroy a fish which is not dangerous to man, nor will he fish just for amusement; in other words, he fishes only for desirable fish. The chief things that make a fish desirable, in the sense of a game or sport fish, are that it shall be good food, not too common and not too easily caught. If, besides, it be beautiful and found in beautiful places so much the better. It happens that by common consent certain fish—salmon and trout and their kindred—are in Europe and America esteemed above all others, and the opportunity to angle for them is not open to every one, and most boys must get their sport with other less-esteemed kinds. “Boys’ fish” they are sometimes slightingly called, but they have lots of sport to give to the boy who knows how to get it, and he will get more sport if he takes pains to make the fish better worth catching and better worth having after it is caught. It is better worth having, for instance, if you have caught it from the cleanest water you have access to. Clean water makes sweet fish. If a fish is to be kept kill it at once by a blow upon the back of the head where the backbone joins it. This is not only more merciful but makes firmer meat. If one is fishing from a boat or not moving about much the fish may be kept alive in a floating live-box or basket, and at the end of the fishing the best may be chosen for keeping and the rest let go. Fish are sweeter, too, if cleaned as soon as possible; besides, the cleaning is done more easily if done early. Learn to do it well yourself, and try to be at home in time to do it before supper. Cleaning fish by candle-light goes far to spoil the sport of a pleasant day. Do not clean fish with your pocket-knife. Have in your kit a stout one for the purpose which will also cut bait. Such knives made expressly are sold for a small sum, but a veteran kitchen-knife or a broken table-knife if kept in order will do excellent service.

Do not throw your fish in the dirt nor let them lie in the sun nor string them upon a twig or line if you wish them to be sweet. Have a basket with a cover, even if the cover be no more than a newspaper. Wash this basket and dry and air it in the sunshine if you can after every using. All these things you should do if you wish what you catch to be as good as it can be.

Now, how are you to increase the sport of the catching? Of course you want the largest fish and these are usually the oldest and the most wary. This wariness you do not expect to change, but you hope to defeat it. Study the habits of the fish, where and when and upon what it feeds or what it seeks. Let your fishing be governed by your discoveries. And while you are offering him what he wants and when and where he wants it, remember these old fellows are fussy about their table-service. They do not feel hungry if a boy throws his shadow across their table, or shakes it by rushing up to it. Stalk your fish, then, as quietly as you are able, and if you have alarmed it in any way stay out of sight and remain as quiet as possible for a long time until your clumsiness is forgotten, and then let your lure, whether bait or fly, drift into the fish’s sight as if you had nothing to do with it. And remember that the finer your tackle the more likely this pretence will be to succeed.

You want also as good a fight as you can get. Remember that the fighting qualities of fish are as a rule best developed in those which live in rapid and turbulent water, and in those which pursue their prey and catch it by their own nimbleness. But any fish will fight better if you make the struggle more even by using delicate tackle. You win then only by dexterity of handling, which is one of the great charms of angling, and about the only one, as regards the mere catching of fish, on which the experienced angler sets much value. The secret of success with delicate tackle may be told in two words—care and coolness. Care in the preparation of the tackle, coolness in handling it.

When you put your tackle together you will make it far safer if you consider it as one apparatus or machine from hook to reel and if you let the rod top, or “tip,” be the weakest point of all, because by it you can best determine the strain upon the whole gear. For instance, a good line for fresh-water fishing will usually lift at least ten pounds, a good snell at least three pounds if new, the hook more than the snell, while the top of an ordinary light rod will rarely bear more than two pounds of dead weight, so that you may know by the strain upon the top joint just what the tackle is bearing; and if the joint is safe the whole is likewise safe.

By testing your tackle you raise your fishing from a rough-and-ready guesswork to something like certainty, the one point of doubt being always the security of the hook in the fish’s mouth, and even of this you soon acquire the power of judging. But this testing is not done once for all. Good tackle which is put away wet to mildew, or gut which is frayed or put in the sun to rot, does not long remain sound. Therefore dry your line, carefully unwinding it from the reel if you have one and winding it upon a chair-back, for instance, when you come home. Look over and test your tackle every time you are going fishing—yes, and every time it gets caught on a stone or stump or in the bushes—if you wish to escape the loss of your best fish. All this means that tackle to be safe must be sound—that is, good all through. A line, for instance, which is strong in one place and weak in another will give you more trouble than one which is not so strong but uniform.

The strain upon the tackle is equalized by the elasticity of the rod, which to some extent makes up for want of dexterity. But never have a rod so flexible that it will not control the tackle, and, above all, avoid one which is weak in the middle.

Lastly, let the fish do the pulling if you wish to safely handle it. No angling-tackle is as strong as a boy. But if the rod be so held that its spring keeps the line taut and a gentle, steady pull upon the fish the latter soon exhausts himself fighting this elasticity. Any excess of line not easily controlled by the rod alone should be at once taken up by the reel. Draw the tired fish out gently, without “yanking,” or if heavy lead it into the landing-net.

Rods vary according to the kind of fishing, and the “all-round” fisherman will probably have, without being finicky, as many rods as a golf-player has clubs. But the boy for whom this is written must make his pocket-money go as far as possible, and he will probably have but one. Rod-making is an interesting amusement, but it would better be deferred until one knows fairly well the use of a rod and just what kind he wants. The making of rods is not very economical, since nowadays factories turn out really good ones at prices little above what one must pay for reliable rod-wood. Roughly speaking, there are two kinds of rods, bait-rods and fly-rods. Bait-rods are nearly always stiffer than fly-rods; the latter must have sufficient flexibility and elasticity to throw a line quite a distance, often several times the length of the rod. But in choosing a bait-rod a different selection will be made according to the particular sort of fishing within reach. Thus if one fishes ponds or wide streams from the bank, a rod a dozen feet long would not be too long; but if from a boat, a shorter rod not above ten feet will be more convenient. Still, shorter rods are better if bait is to be cast long distances, as is done in minnow-casting or some kinds of sea-fishing. A jointed-rod is convenient for carrying, but if one lives within walking or driving distance of his fishing a rod in one piece, such as is easily made from a slender bamboo with an elastic tip of good wood spliced on, is as good for bait-fishing as any. If besides bait-fishing one desires to use the fly, then the best rod is a rather stout fly-rod about ten feet in length, because it can be used for bait-fishing, while a bait-rod cannot be used to cast a fly.

Beautiful and excellent rods are made of split bamboo, and some of moderate cost, but avoid very cheap ones. But for beginners’ use the writer prefers a solid-wood rod of good quality, because it is less liable to injury and because of the greater ease with which it is repaired; the boy himself may do it if he be handy. Whatever rod you have, let the line-guides be of the sort known as “standing-guides” rather than rings, if you have the choice.

Lines should be sound and strong but not too heavy for the rod; twisted lines are more easily found of good quality but braided lines kink less. Twenty yards are quite enough for any fishing of the kind we are considering and half as much would usually suffice. In fly-fishing for large trout or bass the reel usually carries forty to fifty yards.

Hooks should be of the best quality to be had. Good hooks are still practically all made in England. Shapes which have received names are many, and most of them have advantages for particular kinds of fishing. Among the best are O’Shaughnessy, Limerick, Sneckbend, Aberdeen, and Sproat. The last-named we think will meet more kinds of need than any other one. As to size it should be remembered that the hook is to fit the bait, not the fish’s mouth; a very small fish can take any ordinary hook.

A reel is not so absolutely necessary as the rod, line, and hook, but it is a prime convenience. A well-made single-click reel is better than any multiplier except for the one matter of making long casts from the reel, which a beginner is not likely to do.

For fly-casting a leader or casting-line of gut between the fly and the main line is necessary for making a light cast, but for ordinary bait-fishing the gut-snells which are nowadays so generally sold attached to hook are bottom line enough. If, however, you can get some white, gray, or cream-colored hairs from the tail of a young stallion you can make bottom lines or leaders for light fishing without expense.

A gaudy float is pretty sure to form part of the first angling outfit, and it is useful to keep the bait out of the weeds and to notify the inexperienced angler that a fish is biting. Choose one that is slender in shape and not large. A dry stick makes a good enough extemporaneous float, and if fish are shy may be better than a more showy one.

For sinkers split shot B B size and buckshot or strips of thin lead, such as comes from tea-chests, wound around the line are as good as any and very easily gotten.

Do not buy a bait-box. It is not so good as a bag with a draw-string, which will allow your hand to be inserted and will also close the aperture snugly. The same string will serve to fasten the bag to your button-hole or creel-strap. The bag is best made of flannel. Wash it after using.

Worms are much better if dug a day or two before using and “scoured” by putting them into soft moss wrung out of water. They become brighter and firmer by scouring and are more attractive to fish. If live minnows or small fish are used for bait, of course they must be kept in water, which must be changed from time to time. A pail is the most convenient vessel to carry them in.

A landing-net is convenient if you fish for game which is heavy in proportion to your tackle—say for fish upward of a pound in weight with a light rod. Very low-priced ones are now sold in the shops and sufficiently good ones can be made at home.

We give no details about flies as their name is legion. A beginner would better have but few kinds and of moderate size; a few hackles will probably be all he needs.

There are a multitude of things sold in the tackle-shops which are tempting but not at all necessary, not to mention many which could have been devised only by a person who was no angler. Those already spoken of are all that seem essential.

Bait-rods and Fly-rods

Probably most boys are too sensible to fall into the error which seems to beset many adults—namely, that the possession of tackle makes an angler. It is necessary to know how to use it.

Begin by putting your rod together properly; put the tip into the middle first, and then the middle into the butt. See that the ferrules are well “home” and that the guides are all on the same side so that the line will run freely. Place the reel, if you have one, in the reel-seat and see that the reel-bands are snug and will not slip. Then lead off the lines through the rings and the tip-ring. These details are the same whatever kind of fishing is in hand; the others depend upon what is to be done.

Let us suppose that you are to fish with bait and that bait a worm. If you have a short gut line—two or three feet long—it will be well to fasten it to the end of the line and to the other end of the gut attach the snell of the hook. But when seeking many fish which are not very shy, the snell may be fastened directly to the line. In fishing in a gently moving stream no lead may be needed; if the current be quick a little will probably be required to keep the bait near the bottom. In pond-fishing or reaches of a stream which are very quiet a float as well as lead may be convenient. Some veteran anglers still enjoy the bobbing of the float. The hook may be put into the side of the worm as shown at A, or into the head as at B (Fig. 1). A is rather more attractive to the fish; B more likely to be taken in such a way as to insure that the hook is in the fish’s mouth. When the worm is dead or has slipped down into a bunch at the bend of the hook no fish that you want will be likely to take it.

Now, do not make a splash when you put it into the water. If you have to cast it out into still water do not use your rod and line as if it were a thresher’s flail. Holding your rod nearly straight up, give the line a gentle swing forward, and when the bait has swung well out reach after it with the rod so that the bait (and float, too, if there be one) shall fall as lightly as possible. Do not be in too great a hurry to change its place. If you are fishing in running water, drop the bait quietly into the water and so manage the rod that it shall neither hasten nor hinder the movement of the bait, which should travel as nearly as possible as it would if it were not upon a hook. All the time you are to keep as much as possible out of sight. When you feel the pluck of the fish drop the point of your rod and wait a second or two before you attempt to strike the hook into the flesh.

It sometimes happens that the place you wish to fish is so encumbered with bushes that it cannot be approached. In such a case, if you can find an opening in the bushes you may get at the water by shortening the line and winding what is left around and around the top of the rod. Then pass it through the opening, and, reaching out over the water, roll the rod over and over in the hands until the line is unwound and the bait goes dropping down to the water, as a spider lets himself down from his web. If you have a bite, give the fish time to make sure of the bait. Strike, and, when you can, shorten your line still farther if necessary and draw your fish out.

On the other hand, if in a fairly open place you wish to reach a point at some distance, you may throw your bait out by pulling sufficient line from the reel, and, gathering it in coils upon the left hand, swing the bait out with sufficient force to carry the coils of line after it and so reach the desired point.

To tell in a few words how to cast a fly is hardly practicable. It is not done by force but by knack. A cast consists of a back cast which carries the line upward and backward, and a forward cast which propels it towards the desired spot. The knack consists in giving with the wrist such a quick motion to the rod as shall set its elasticity to work, and this carries the line. One must not thrash with the rod.

As useful a way as any to help the reader will be to describe how the writer has tried to help lads who are learning to cast. It is in this way: The boy takes the rod, fitted with its reel and line only, to a water’s-edge free of bushes or trees or to a lawn recently mowed. If the grass is slightly damp all the better as it holds the line more nearly as does the water. He pulls off from the reel enough line so that the free part shall be once and a half or twice the length of the rod. This he throws out in front of him as well as he can. He then is told to keep his elbow close against his side to prevent moving the arm above the elbow. He then tries with a quick movement of the wrist, and with as little movement of the forearm as possible, to lift the line upward and backward until it straightens out behind him, and then with another similar motion to make it go straight out before him.

The accompanying drawing (Figs. 2 and 3) show how the wrist and thumb really do all the work, and how little the forearm really moves in good casting. They show, too, what should be the limits of the motion in the butt of the rod. If it goes farther back the back cast is apt to be low and the line if not the rod may get into trouble in bushes or grass. If it goes farther forward the line is apt to go down with a splash.

After this restraint of motion has become habitual the rule of holding the elbow against the side may be relaxed a little, especially in making long casts.

Do not try to lift a sunken line suddenly from the water. Coax it to the surface, as else the resistance of the line will probably snap your rod.

Do not try to make the forward cast on just the same plane as the back cast for fear that the end of the line should snap like a whip-lash, which if you were actually fishing would crack off your flies pretty certainly. Therefore make the lift of the back cast with a slight sweep (generally inward towards the body is the more natural), and deliver the forward cast straight out towards its destination. But always aim about your own height above the spot on the water you mean to reach to insure the line falling lightly.

In all your practising remember that the key-note of good casting is in getting a good, clean, high back cast, and in never sending the line forward until it is quite straight out behind and above you in the back cast. If you have with you some one to guide you as to when it is straightened out it will be a great gain, particularly as the time required for the straightening varies with the length of line that is used.

Do not try to cast a long line until you have learned to cast a short one well; and well means not only with a high back cast and straight forward, but also accurately as to aim and delicately.

Repairs, Knots, and Splices

As has been said already it hardly pays nowadays to make one’s own tackle, at least for a beginner. But a few things it is useful to know so that repairs and supplies of a sort can be made in an emergency. But emergencies are to a great degree prevented by care—by cleaning and looking over the rod and the reel whenever you come home, and keeping it safe. The reel may need a drop of oil now and then, and it should be always kept out of the dust, in a box or drawer, and above all from falls or blows.

The repairs most commonly called for are the splicing of a broken rod, the replacing a lost tip-ring or guide-ring, the knotting of gut, and the putting a hook to gut. The repair-kit, to use a cyclist’s phrase, consists of a piece of shoemaker’s wax, some moderately stout sewing-silk—number A being the best suited for quick work of all sorts—some bits of flexible brass wire, and a pocket-knife. As the method of wrapping used in all repairs is essentially the same let us begin with the simplest, the putting the hook to gut.

First wax well a piece of silk half a yard or more in length. Choose your hook and the piece of gut (or line if you do not use gut) to which it is to be fastened. Take the bend of the hook firmly between the left thumb and forefinger and with the right take two or three turns of the silk about the other end of the shank (Fig. 4 A). Then lay the gut on the under side of the hook, reaching two-thirds down the shank, and wind the silk snugly, coil against coil, over both hook and gut towards the bend of the hook B. When the gut is nearly covered make a loop as at C, but relatively larger than in the figure and keep on winding so that the part _a_ covers in not only hook and gut but the part _b_, clearing the silk from the bend of the hook at each turn. When four or five turns have been taken draw on _c_ and pull it snug. (D shows the loop not quite drawn down.) When snug cut off the end and you have the “invisible knot” or “whip-finish” universally used by fishermen. The same whipping and finish are used for the other repairs mentioned above.

Suppose that a joint of the rod has broken with a slanting break. It may be that the surfaces can be fitted together neatly. In this case they may be joined at once, but if any part has been lost or broken away, then the broken surfaces must be trimmed and smoothed with the knife until they do fit. They are spliced thus: Rub the surfaces with your shoemaker’s wax, press them together, and if you cannot easily hold them, tie them temporarily with a piece of string, or perhaps still better, make open coils over the joined parts as at A in Fig. 4. Then wind back over these coils and the joined parts, making close, snug coils just as you did on the hook. The whip-finish must be managed a little differently. Fig. 5 shows how this is done. When ready to finish drop a loop and make four or five loose turns. Carry the end under the beginning of the loop, wind down the loose coils firmly, and pull the end through as before.

A lost tip-ring or guide-ring can be made good by a piece of wire bent into proper shape and whipped on with well waxed silk thread.

We need say but a few words about knots. In order to knot your gut it must be first softened, which is done by laying it in water; it softens much more rapidly in lukewarm water than in cold. Two lengths of gut are joined together by lapping the end of one by the end of the other and making a knot in both together. Fig. 6 A shows this knot, only the end is put through twice for greater security. If the fishing is such as does not need strong tackle a single knot will suffice.

A loop at the end of a piece of gut is made by making the knot as at B, which is the commonly used knot.

A better knot is that shown at C, which looks complicated as drawn, but really is not so, as in tying it the two loops _a_ and _b_ are made, the end _c_ laid between them, and then _b_ is drawn through _a_.

D shows the ordinary simple method of fastening a line to the loop of a leader or of a snell. It is the “becket hitch” of the seaman. It explains itself. Its great advantage is that it cannot slip if drawn down snugly and can be instantly loosened by pushing the main line back a little way.

Aids for Young Anglers

How often has it happened that on reaching a camping-ground, hotel, or boarding-house near river or lake where pickerel, bass, and large perch abounded no provision is found for the angler’s sport but a boat—no lines, sinkers, or floats; no nets for catching live bait, and no bait but worms. For sunfish, catfish, and small perch, worms are very fair bait; but for pickerel, bass, and large perch live bait is best. Here are some makeshifts and aids that may be gotten up at short notice and at small expense.

Fig. 7 is an end-section of a mosquito-net seine for taking live bait. The length of the seine is thirty-eight feet, depth five feet. The “cork-line” A A consists of a small-sized clothes-line. Corks not always being obtainable, I have used pieces of thoroughly seasoned white pine three inches in length and one inch in diameter (C C C). Through these rounded pieces of wood holes are bored through which the clothes-line passes. These floats are placed eight inches apart and are kept in position by the clothes-line fitting tightly in the holes. At the bottom of the seine another clothes-line is sewed to the netting (B B). This is called the “lead line” and is for the purpose of keeping the lower part of the seine close to the bottom of the water. In the lead line pieces of sheet-lead one inch in length are fastened (H H H) twenty-eight inches apart. The “staff” D is a well-seasoned piece of hickory six feet long, to the lower end of which sheet-lead is also fastened at E to keep it down. To the staff is attached the staff line F F F, thirty feet long, which is for the purpose of drawing in the seine after it has been cast.

A seine of this size is generally worked by two persons and two boats. Each person takes one of the staff lines in his boat, and rowing towards the shore with the extended seine describes a semicircle between the boats. As the shore is approached each boat closes in, thereby causing the two staffs to meet and imprison all the fish that have come within the bounds of the seine. When one person works the seine one of the staff lines is tied to a rock or stake on the shore and the other line is taken into a boat, or the operator wades out and causes his end of the seine to describe a circle until the two shafts meet. Great care must be taken to keep the lead line close to the bottom otherwise the fish will escape. In the selection of the seining-ground always avoid stony bottoms, snags, and brush, which will cause the seine to “roll up” and tear.

The cost of the above-described seine ranges from three to four dollars, and is capable of lasting two seasons if carefully handled and spread out on the grass to dry after using it. A much superior article to mosquito-net is bobinet, which will last several seasons.

Fig. 8 is a bait-boat for keeping the bait alive. It is towed behind or kept by the side when fishing. The top and bottom pieces consist of half-inch pine; in the centre of each piece square openings are cut; that on the top is protected by a door made of wire-cloth or quarter-inch mesh fastened to two small staples which answer the purpose of hinges; over the opening in the bottom piece wire-cloth is nailed to admit of a free circulation of water. Under the back end of the top piece a cleat is nailed, also two cleats on the bottom piece as shown in the drawing. At the bow of the boat an upright piece of wood is fastened to the top and bottom of the bait-boat by means of screws. The sides of the boat consist of one piece of wire-cloth, the ends of which meet at the upright piece of wood at the bow and are nailed with broad-headed galvanized nails. The top and bottom of the wire-cloth are also fastened with nails to the edges of the top and bottom of the boat as shown in the drawing. A tow-line is fastened to the bow and the boat is complete.

When handling the bait a small hand-net (Fig. 9) is used, consisting of a stout piece of wire as shown in the drawing. The straight parts of the wire are bound together with fishing-line and constitute the handle; to this frame netting is sewed to form the net-bag.

For a makeshift float nothing is better than a good-sized bottle-cork into which a cut has been made with a sharp knife or razor extending from the side to the centre of the cork. Into this cut the line is drawn as shown in Fig. 10 A.

Sheet-lead is always a useful aid in makeshift fishing-tackle, and for light lines makes excellent sinkers when bent and compressed around the line as shown at Fig. 10 B.

For cleaning out a boat a stiff whisk-broom made of fine birch twigs bound together with wire or fishing-line, as shown at Fig. 11, will be found very useful.

Fig. 12 A and B are hand-made sinkers beaten and carved out of old lead pipe. The carved one, B, is first roughed out with a jack-knife and finished up with fine emery or sand paper. A is beaten into shape with a railroad spike on an anvil or smooth stone. This beating and carving of lead is very pleasant work, the lead being of such an easy and good-natured temper.

For a cheap and easy-obtainable bailer make use of an empty tomato or corned-beef can as shown in Fig. 13. A hole sufficiently large to admit of the handle is punched in the side of the can; the inside of the handle is chamfered off so as to fit close to the inner side of the can. Through the can and into the end of the handle a stout nail is driven as at A.

A good bait for large fish is a strip cut from the under side of a small pickerel, perch, or sunfish, which is placed on the hook as shown in Fig. 14.

Baits, and Where to Find Them

As a rule, the young fisherman naturally considers the angle-worm to be the only bait he need have when he goes fishing, and, taking a spade, he seeks a moist, loamy spot in the garden and proceeds to fill his box. But there is a choice even in worms, and those of a clear, dark, amber color are the best.

Just at night, and after a soft, warm rain, worms of the size of a lead-pencil will be found crawling over the ground. These are excellent bait for bass, chub, perch, and large trout early in the season. If you step very lightly, so as not to jar the ground, you can easily pick up a box of these large fellows.

It is well enough to have worms with you on all occasions, but there are many other baits. Frogs, crabs, grubs, dobsons, minnows, June-bugs, grasshoppers, and crickets, as well as artificial baits, are more successful lures with certain fish. A few words telling where to find these baits and the proper manner of keeping them fresh and lively may prove of value.

Frogs are most plentiful on the shores of ponds or streams filled with plant growth, and in low, moist places in meadows. In searching for them in grass, wait till you see one jump, then catch it in your hands. They are not so easily gotten from the shores, as they are apt to take to the water at the first alarm.

Crabs are usually found under stones along the shores of a stream or pond, and in some localities in low, moist places in grass-lands. Seize the crab back of the pincers and it cannot nip you.

Dobsons are only found under mossy stones in swift-running waters. They are of a dark-gray color, have many legs, and when fully grown are about three inches long. The head is shield-shaped and armed with good, stout pincers, so handle the dobson as you would a crab. The best way to get a supply of dobsons is to have some one hold one edge of a fine-meshed net on the bottom of the stream while you turn over the stones above the net with a hoe. The dobsons, loosing their hold on the bottom, will be carried by the current into the net. Put frogs, crabs, and dobsons into a pail with plenty of grass and some water. If you are to keep them for some time change the water occasionally.

Grubs are excellent bait for trout early in the season. They are found in partially decayed tree-trunks, stumps, and old timbers left in moist places. Cut into the wood with an axe, and if you find it full of holes of the size of a lead-pencil, knock it to pieces and pick out the grubs. Put them in a tin bait-box with some of the rotten wood you found them in.

Minnows of a size suitable for perch and bass fishing can usually be procured from a spring hole or the pools of a small stream. Take a rather baggy net with a small mesh, and after setting it at one end of the pool drive the minnows into it by striking on the water with a pole and punching about on the bottom. If you stir up the water the little fish will drive more easily. If your supply must be procured from a lake or pond, look among the shallows close inshore until you have found a school, then draw a small seine around them. Large minnows for pickerel or pike fishing can be caught with a hook and line. Those you are to use for skittering had better be packed in salt. The minnows you would keep alive should be put into the bait-pail as soon as caught. Bait-pails, as usually made, consist of one pail freely perforated with holes to be set into a tight outer pail. By this arrangement the water can be changed frequently without inconveniencing the little fellows. If the bait is to be carried some distance, and there is no chance to change the water, pack the space between the two pails loosely with grass. The water trickling down through the grass will take up the air needed by the fish.

Crickets are to be found under stones, loose sods, and old planks. Select the largest you can find. June-bugs, sometimes called May-bugs, hide through the heat of the day among the leaves of the trees, and sometimes by shaking a tree quite a number will fall to the ground. Grasshoppers are plentiful in meadow and pasture lands, and may easily be caught in the hands. Put June-bugs, crickets, and grasshoppers in a wide-mouthed bottle loosely stuffed with grass. Do not cork the bottle tight.

I never esteemed artificial baits, such as the rubber frog and crab, very highly. It is impossible to give the semblance of life to them in the water, and most game fish prefer live food to dead. The spoon-hook and the artificial fly, however, have proved their worth. The spoon should be of a size in keeping with the size of the game fished for, and it is well enough to have two—one bright, for use early in the morning and late in the afternoon and on dark days, the other dull-colored for use in the brightest part of the day. It is an excellent plan to bait a spoon-hook with a large worm, a minnow, or a piece of meat; then if the fish strikes and misses the hook it may get a portion of the bait and will strike again with truer aim.

There are many other things that can be used for bait, which are to be found only in your locality. What they are you can learn by observation and experiment. One can always learn something. Only recently I discovered that bass were fond of darning-needles.

Sometimes the fish have very fickle appetites, and it is well to have as many kinds of bait as you can conveniently carry. It is also a good plan to open the stomach of the first fish you catch, and offer to its companions the same kind of food found inside of it.

A Trap for Small Fish

Many of the boys and girls who live near the sea-side are interested in making and stocking aquariums, and many, no doubt, have experienced the same difficulty which I did when I used to stock aquariums myself.

I always found that the scoop-net which we use to catch the fish with is good enough for certain kinds of minnows, but there are others which are too lively or too shy to be caught in that way; so I set to work to devise some plan for their capture. I claim no originality for this trap—it is hundreds of years old; but as it answered my purpose better than anything else, I used it. The way I made it was as follows:

I took a piece of wire-netting about three feet square and bent it so as to form a tube three feet long and about one foot in diameter (Fig. 15). I then took two other strips of wire-netting, three feet long at the top, one foot wide, and two feet at the bottom (Fig. 16); these I bent into funnel shape. I sewed one funnel in about the middle of my cylinder and another in one end, as shown in Fig. 15, strengthening them in their position with strings from the small ends to the sides of the cylinder. The other end of the cylinder I closed with a piece of strong bagging so sewed on that there was a space left at one side which could be untied when I wished to empty the trap.

The manner of setting the trap is as simple as its manufacture. A handful of clams or mussels, crushed so that the minnows can get at the flesh, is thrown in between the first and second funnels. The fish, little crabs, small eels, and the like, go in, and when they try to get out they find it much easier to swim through the second funnel than to find the small hole in the first. I have had several of these traps, or “pots,” as the fishermen call them, in operation at one time, and have caught as many as half a bushel of small fish in one night.

The trap can be made by making a frame of hoops and lath and covering it with mosquito-netting, but it is not so desirable as the fine wire, being more easily torn.

A Water-turtle Trap

Some time ago, while spending the summer in the country, I began the pleasing amusement of making an aquarium. I used various methods to procure the inmates of the great glass box which I had made for the purpose, and was successful, except that I could not get a water-turtle. There they would lie on logs in the pond sunning themselves, but the moment I came within reaching distance, plump they would go into the water. At last I took an old soap-box, and after carefully removing one end I nailed on the cover. I then fastened the end to the cover by hinges, so that it would swing inward, and after throwing in a few bones and scraps of meat, I sunk the box in the pond close beside a big log where the turtles were accustomed to sun themselves. I put a heavy stone on the box, so as to keep it steady, and awaited the next morning for developments. Fig. 17.

Here I may say that this trap takes advantage of a peculiarity in the nature of the water-turtle—namely, if there is a log or stone that he cannot get under, that is just the place that he wants to get; and I calculated that the slight resistance offered by my swinging door would be just enough to make the turtles determined to get into my box. The next morning when I went to my trap I found several turtles of all sizes, from one tiny, yellow-spotted fellow, or mud-turtle, not larger than a half-dollar, to an ugly, great snapper as big as your hat, and so ill-tempered that I let him go again, glad enough at having got rid of so troublesome a visitor. After that I set my trap several times and caught a number of turtles. The smaller ones furnish a charming addition to an aquarium, and the larger ones, if properly dressed, make a capital stew.

An Eel-pot

All along the Atlantic coast eel-pots are made on the same general plan, a bottle-shaped basket having a funnel fitted at the bottom and provided with a hat that is held on by two straps of green oak.

Three forms are used on which to build up the basket-work. The large form is usually ten inches in diameter and shaped down to eight inches at the top or neck. This form is two feet long and has a round stick driven in the small end. This in turn rests in a hole bored in a solid piece of plank, so that it is held in an inverted position and revolves in the hole. Green oak is used for the ribs and bands. This is cut as straight and free from knots as possible, and is soaked in water for weeks before it is split and slivered. Green oak will sliver in an even and uniform manner if it is started right, and from the trunk of an oak-tree six inches in diameter enough material can be had to make several dozen eel-pots. The ribs are three-quarters of an inch wide and about one-eighth of an inch thick, while the bands are a trifle thinner and wider. A number of the ribs are tied around the form as shown in Fig. 18, and beginning at the bottom the bands are woven in and out around the form, turning it as the work progresses so that the immediate parts are always in sight. Where the ends join they are shaved down thin so that one laps over the other; then the weaving continues until the top is reached. The ends of the ribs are then shaved thin and bent back and slipped under some of the straps. A thin ribbon of the oak is sewed over and over around the edge to finish it. The top or small end of the basket is finished in a similar manner.

The cone or funnel form is fifteen inches long, nine inches in diameter at the large end, and tapers down to two inches at the bottom as shown in Fig. 19. Ribs are tied to this form the same as in the case of the large one, and the weaving begins at the bottom and is carried to the top, where the ends of the ribs are shaved and turned in as before described. The bottom or small end of the funnel is the trap, and here the long, thin ends of the ribs are left, so that the eel, when he goes through the funnel and into the pot, cannot get back again.

The hat is woven the same as a basket by crossing the ribs and adding a half-rib from the centre anywhere on the circle, so as to make an uneven number of ribs; thus the weaving will not duplicate after the first turn around the circle. This extra rib is shown at A in Fig. 20. A hat form, shown in Fig. 21, is made of wood and mounted on a block so that it will revolve the same as the other forms. When a part of the hat is woven it is placed on the form and two small nails driven through the ribs into the form to hold the weaving in place. It is then shaped down over the rounded edges of the form and carried one or two inches below the form so the lower edges of the ribs can be shaved and bent easily. A long strap of the green oak is passed under one of the ribs in the hat and caught under bands of the body as shown in the drawing of a complete eel-pot. Fig. 22.

The funnel is sewed to the bottom edge of the body with thin bands. As soon as the pots are finished they should be sunk in shallow water to keep them wet and get them thoroughly water-soaked.

Stakes or poles are to be driven or worked down into the bottom of the bay and the eel-pots made fast to them with ropes. To bait an eel-pot crack some hard-shell crabs or shrimp or put some pieces of fresh, raw meat within the pot and drop it overboard. Run the pots morning and night, and remove the eels by unstrapping the cap and dumping them into a barrel which may be carried on the boat.

A Scap-net

A scap-net for crabbing or landing fish on a hook may be made from a ring of heavy galvanized iron driven into the end of a hard-wood stick. Scap-nets may be purchased in most any general store near a bay or pond, but the ingenious boy can make one himself from a hoop and a ball of cotton twine. Hang long pieces of string over the ring and tie them fast with a square knot. Then tie one string with its next neighbor all around the circle. Begin lower down and tie them again, and continue in this manner until the net resembles Fig. 23. When it is seven or eight inches deep begin to shape it in at the bottom by making the meshes or openings smaller so that it will have a rounded bottom. The ends of the string should be tied together or over a small galvanized-iron sail-ring. All the strings should be tied in square knots so that they will not become undone after the net has been used for a while.

A Hoop Drop-net

A hoop drop-net such as shown at Fig. 24 may easily be made from three galvanized-wire rings and a mesh of tied string as described for the scap-net. The hoops should be eighteen inches in diameter and separated ten inches, thus making a net twenty inches deep. A mesh is to be formed across the bottom, and at the top six small ropes are tied and the ends brought together fifteen or twenty inches above the top ring.

Place some crushed crab or any good bait in the bottom of the net and slowly lower it until the rings rest on the bottom of the bay or pond, but keep the small ropes clear from the net. Watch through the water for visitors, and when the right subject is at the bait and within the rings give a quick jerk and pull the net rapidly to the surface. If fish are to be caught in this manner the hoops should be larger and one more added to the net, making it thirty inches deep. Fish are cunning and swift, and will often dart up and over the top hoop faster than you can haul it up.