CHAPTER XV.

ARTIFICIAL BAITS.

"And therefore I have, which I will show to you, an artificial minnow that will catch Trout as well as an artificial fly; and it was made by a handsome woman that had a fine hand, and a live minnow lying by her."-IZAAK WALTON.

TROLLING-BAITS-SPOON-BAITS.

THE most commonly-used trolling-bait for Black Bass is the spoon-bait or trolling-spoon. It is now made of all shapes, and many sizes; but all are made upon the same general principle, and are merely variations of the original trolling-spoon, which was fashioned like the -bowl of a spoon, a single hook being soldered to one end, and a hole drilled in the other end for attaching the line.

By trailing or trolling such a spoon at the end of a line from a moving boat, it revolves gracefully beneath the surface of the water, the burnished surfaces flashing at each revolution, and proves quite an effective lure.

Manufacturers vie with each other in producing novely shapes and so-called improvements, but there is nothing better than the original spoon-bowl with a single hook. The double and triple hooks, usually attached to the modern spoons, are liable to be crushed and broken by the jaws of a large fish, if hooked in a position favorable to this contingency.

Trolling-spoons are all made with a concave and a convex surface; the latter surface being brightly polished or

burnished, while the former is generally painted, and usually of a red color. They are made of tin or brass, and often plated with nickel, silver or gold; but so long as spoon-baits are brightly burnished, it matters not what the material is, for the Black Bass is not a judge of metals, but will grab at any thing bright and in motion.

The depending hook or hooks may be plain, or dressed with a tuft of feathers or braid, called, by courtesy, a "fly;" but these fanciful additions, while pleasing to the angler's eye, do not enhance the "taking" qualities of the lure, for it is the flashing and glancing of the revolving spoon that attracts the fish; and it can not be made more effective by these ornamental appendages, or, as I have sometimes seen, by the addition of a live minnow, or a strip of fat pork!

One or two brass swivels should always be attached to the spoon-bait or line, to prevent twisting or kinking. Particular attention should be paid to the hooks of trolling-spoons, for many of them are of inferior quality, though the American spoons are, as a rule, furnished with better hooks than the English baits of the same grades.

As a rule, most persons use too large spoons for Black Bass, using generally Pickerel baits. For the Black Bass, the spoon should be no larger than the bowl of an ordinary sized tea-spoon, for trolling with the hand-line; and when trolling with the rod, they should be still smaller.

Abbey & Imbrie's new Fluted Spoon-Bait is a very finely finished and attractive bait; it is of the same shape as the original spoon, but with a fluted section, which adds very much to its attractiveness when spinning; the hooks