BAIT, LIVE AND DEAD Salt-Water Worms that Live on Land. Angle-Worms, Hellgramites, Minnows, Crawfish, Grasshoppers, Crickets, Frogs, and "Lampers." How to Catch and How to Keep Them. ALL modern naturalists will tell you how long, long ago an adventurous marine worm, little by little, accustomed himself to living out of water, until at length he was able to sustain life on land, so long as there was moisture enough to keep his body moist. His descendants throve in their new home, and multiplied and spread all over the face of the earth, and to-day they may be called land animals, although they still breathe as a leech does, and are still dependent upon water in the form of moisture to support life. In a dry atmosphere and dry earth they die. All day long these busy worms eat their way through the earth, and grow fat on the food on which they live. With no eyes, they know light from darkness; without noses, they can smell out food buried in the earth; without ears, they hear the approach of an enemy, and every ring and invisible bristle on their slimy bodies is keenly sensitive to the slightest touch. After a rain in June how the robins laugh to see the angle-worms enjoying the wet grass of the lawns! But, if Mr. Robin expects to catch many, he must be prepared for work, for at the sound of the bird's light foot-fall the angle- worm quickly disappears in his hole. Often the robin secures a piece of the retreating tail, but that is a matter of little importance to the worm, for there are plenty of tails where that came from, and he grows himself another. If you take an earth-worm in your hand and smooth him with your fingers from his tail to his head, you will distinctly feel the invisible bristles, four pair of which grow at each ring of his body. Now, if you stroke the worm from his head to his tail, no resistance will be felt; he is as slippery as an eel. The reason for this is that the bristles point backward, and thus enable him to crawl. For they keep his tail fixed while he is stretching his head forward, and then he holds on with hooked bristles on the forward end of his body while pulling his tail up. By repeating this operation the worm manages to crawl on the surface or below ground. The Work which Angle-Worms Do. Painstaking scientific men have made careful calculations, and claim that an acre of ordinary land suitable for worms contains fifty-three thousand angle worms! If bait is ever scarce, it is because the worms in a long-continued drought or during very cold weather burrow deeply into the ground, sometimes to the distance of eight feet, which is too long a distance to dig for bait. It takes very little imagination on the part of the reader to consider that fifty-three thousand worms, all busy taking earth from below and piling it above ground, can do a great deal in a few thousand years. To our common, despised earth-worm, Mr. Darwin says we are indebted for the preservation of many noble statues and works of art. For, when the priceless art treasures of an older civilization were left to decay amid the ruins of the ancient cities, the earth-worms went silently to work to bury them, which, in course of time, they accomplished, thus protecting the statues and carvings from the ruinous action of the elements, and from vandal human hands. Without the assistance which angle-worms render, by preparing the soil to receive the seeds, many plants would become extinct. We reward the creature by impaling his wriggling body on hooks, and by using him as bait for fish. Digging for worms is always laborious work, and all fishermen should know. How to Collect Angle-Worms at night, when they are above ground, and you need no spade and laborious digging to catch them. If there has been a warm shower, the conditions for a big harvest of worms is perfect. Take a lantern and a pail or a box and sally forth. If you step softly, and hold your lantern close to the ground, you will see hundreds of worms in the wet grass, in the open foot-path and by the road-side great fat fellows called night-crawlers, that will make any hungry fish's mouth water. Last summer I saw a mysterious light moving over my front lawn, and when I investigated its origin, I discovered a boy with a pail and a lantern, catching worms. When he saw a worm, he would snatch it as quickly as any robin. But that is not the best manner to capture them. When you see a worm lying on the ground, you will discover, if you look carefully, that it has one end of its slippery body hidden in its burrow, but what you cannot see is that the stiff bristles are firmly hooked in the soil in the hole. At a moment's notice the worm can draw itself out of sight, by simply contracting its muscles. If you will gently place your finger on the end of the earth-worm's body at the burrow, you will frighten this end of his body, so to speak, and cause it to let go its hold. But as soon as the worm, in its endeavor to escape from the enemy at home, does this, it is helpless, and you may pick it up and put it in your pail, which will soon be filled with good bait. Different Varieties. There are many varieties of angle-worms known to the fisherman. Whether they are varieties recognized by the scientist or not, is of no importance here, but we all know that some worms are strong, lusty, dark in color, and will live some time on the hook ; while others are weak, flabby, light in color, and soon die on the hook. Mr. J. Harrington Keene, in Harper s Young People for July 23, 1889, describes worms, which he calls the garden-worm, the brandling, a manure-heap-worm, the cockspur, with golden spots on its tail, the marsh-worm, to be found in boggy places, and the flag-worm, found at the roots of the sweet flag. * In Isaac Walton's " Complete Angler," he speaks of the garden-worm as the "lob-worm," and then enumerates the other varieties as the red-worm of the manure-heaps, and the brandling or yellow-worm, ringed with red, of manure heaps and tan-heaps. His description of these worms seems to correspond to the varieties enumerated by Mr. J. Harrington Keene. Fish will bite at all of these worms, but for large fish I have found the night-crawlers and the marsh or mud-worm, the most tempting. Since writing the last sentence I tried a big night-crawler with success upon a sly old trout which has resisted the tempting bait of anglers for years. After you have collected your bait the next thing to know is... How to Keep Angle-Worms Healthy and Well. Put them in any sort of clean tin box. Place the cover of the box on a piece of soft plank, and with a hammer and nail, make a number of holes in the cover to admit air. Gather some fresh moss, and cover your angle-worms with it. Put in plenty of moss, and no earth, except that which naturally adheres to the moss. The moss should be moist but not wet. Leave enough space between the top of the moss and the cover to form an air-chamber. In this box your bait not only will not die, but will grow stronger and better day by day. When you wish a fresh bait, pull out the wad of moss, and you will find the worms hanging from the bottom like so many bits of string. Keep the box in some damp, cool place, where it will be sheltered from the rain and sun. I have often heard that if you tap on the ground the worms will come out of their holes. This is probably an ancient legend without truth. Some old Long Islanders, however, assert that the worms will think the noise to be rain, and hasten above ground to prevent being washed out and drowned. How to Bring the Worms Out of their Holes. A writer in La Nature makes the statement that the earth-worms can be quickly forced to come above ground, by pouring a solution of blue vitriol (cupric sulphate) on the ground. Ten grams of blue vitriol to a quart of water is given as the proper mixture. Ordinary soap-suds is good for the same purpose, and, if the water is pretty warm, it acts all the quicker. There is little danger of scalding the bait, for the water cools very rapidly when dashed on the ground. I have frequently noticed the earth-worms crawling around where the laundresses have emptied their tubs. Cold, fresh water will doubtless have the same effect, though possibly the worms will take more time in making their appearance upon the surface. In a publication of the Lakeside Library, called "Fish and Fishing," the following directions are given for preserving worms for bait : "Procure some fresh mutton suet, cut it fine, and boil it in a quart of water till dissolved; then dip into this two or three large pieces of coarse, new wrapper, large enough to supply each variety of worms, which should not be mixed together. When these are cold, put them into separate earthen jars, with some damp earth and the worms which are to be kept, and tie over all a piece of open, coarse muslin."
Hellgramites, Bogerts, Hojack, Dobsons, or Clippers. The first one of these frightful, black, squirming creatures that I ever remember of seeing, inspired me with a terror it has taken years to overcome. I was bathing in a pool in the little muddy stream of Bank-lick, near Covington, Ky. I had advanced far enough in the art of swimming only to be able, with safety, to swim across the pool. While I was about half way across on one of these trips, a sudden pinch on my back announced the fact that I had been attacked by some native of the stream. I looked over my shoulder in alarm, and there I saw what was to me then an unknown animal. It was about as long as my finger, black as could be, and apparently with as many legs as a centipede. It had fastened its pincers in my back, and hung on until I reached the opposite shore, where one of my companions picked it off, to my great relief. Since then I learned that this was only a good black bass bait which had so terrified me, and that, although it can pinch quite sharply, it is a harmless insect. Another Adventure. The next adventure I had with a hellgramite was at Niagara Falls. It was when the old tower still stood upon a rock on the brink of the cataract, but a large sign marked: DANGER! warned all visitors off the bridge leading to the tower. Boy-like, I traversed the bridge to the point where the sign barred farther progress, and here I leaned upon the barrier and watched the green water tumble over the falls. And as I watched I saw a living thing on a rock upon the very brink of Niagara. It was in the act of crawling out of its old skin. There was no doubt in my mind that what I saw was an insect, but it was such an insect as I had never before encountered. Gradually it shook out its beautiful lace-like wings, and then I climbed over the danger sign, threw myself flat on the rock, reached over the edge, picked the insect from its giddy perch, transferred it to my hat, put my hat on, and hastened to the hotel to examine my prize. It looked like a sort of comical dragon-fly, with very long pincers, which opened and closed in a most threatening manner, but I knew the thing could do no harm, because it was still soft, like a soft-shell crab. This was a large male corydalus in its perfect form. It was a full-grown hellgramite, and the first adult insect of its kind I had ever seen. Fishing for Hojacks with a Net. From the foregoing it may be seen that this bait passes part of its life in the water and part in the air and on land. With the perfect insect we have little to do, but the ugly black babies we need for perch and bass, and we must catch them with a small dip-net made of mosquito-netting. Wading up stream, and coming to a flat stone, place the net on the down-stream side of the stone, and then lift up the stone. The bait that are underneath will float into the net. Some, however, may be glued to the stone by their sticky tails, and these must be picked off and placed in your pail or box. Along the edge of the stream in the wet sand or gravel, under the stones, is also a lurking-place for bogerts. The Time when Bogerts are Best. About the 1st of June, when the young corydalus feels that it is about to change into a lace-winged insect, it scrambles out of the water and crawls rapidly about in search of a suitable dressing-room, where it may change its clothes. The under surface of an old board, stone, or log, or even the undersides of the shingles of a house, not too far from the water, are the places chosen. At this time the insects are best suited to the purposes of the fishermen, being exceedingly tough and hard to kill. One bait frequently serves to catch several fish. At this stage the hellgrammites are called crawlers. Within a rude earthen cell the crawler remains in a sort of mummy-like condition until about the 1st of July, when it bursts forth from its shell (pupa) a perfect-winged insect. The female has short pincers and the male ferocious- looking long ones. Both sexes, however, are perfectly harmless. How to Keep Dobsons or Clippers Alive. Select a good wooden box, about two feet by a foot at the base and six inches or a foot high. Bore holes in the lid of the box to admit air. Cover the bottom of the box with dry gravel, and dump in your dobsons, clippers, bogerts, or hellgrammites, as the larva or young corydalus is variously called, according to the part of the country you happen to be in. Keep the box in a dark, cool place. I have kept hellgrammites in a box of this description for thirty days without losing a single insect, all of them being apparently tougher and livelier at the end of a month than they were when first placed in the box. Mr. J. Harrington Keene, in Harper s Young People, says that hellgrammites can be kept alive in a can in which some water has been placed and damp moss added, but I doubt if the bait will live as long and be as strong and healthy kept in this way as they are when kept dry. White Grub-Worms. These are the young or larvae of beetles, and may be found by digging in rich soil or in old rotten logs and stumps. They make good bait for trout, bass, perch, cat fish, and sunfish. Keep them in the Tianner described for keeping the earth, angle, or garden worm.
Gentles, or Young Blue-Bottle Flies are not pleasant creatures to look upon, or pleasant to capture, or pleasant to handle But there is no accounting for tastes. It is evident that fish do not look upon the white carrion-eating baby-fly in the same light that we do, for they are very fond of gentles; and from quaint old Walton down to the present time this little grub has been, and still is, used for bait. The beautiful, dainty, red spotted trout, in his cool spring-water stream, is passionately fond of the larvae of the blue-bottle fly. If you are camping out or living near your fishing-grounds, take any old offal and put it in an old can, bucket, or other deep vessel in a shady out-of-the-way place, where mink or other small animals will not disturb it. Wandering blue-bottle flies will soon discover the tempting display and deposit their eggs in it, and in a few days there will be plenty of bait. When they are full grown carefully remove them by gently knocking the larvae with a stick on a piece of birch bark or paper. How to Keep the Trout Bait. Place them in a box of sand or bran. Here they will soon cleanse themselves and become of a milk-white hue, losing all their disgusting features. Keep them in a damp, cool place to stop them from maturing, or going into the chrysalis state, preparatory to becoming blue-bottle flies. Katydids are very difficult to obtain in quantity sufficient for use as bait, on account of their habits of living in trees. Once, when I was fishing among the Thousand Islands, in the St. Lawrence River, 1 became weary of trolling for big muskallonge that would not bite, and made the guide put me ashore upon a little rocky island, covered with small shrubbery and stunted trees. These I found to be full of great, green, handsome katydids. I soon filled my handkerchief with them, and in less than one hour's time caught a good string of fish of assorted kinds, but principally fine bass. Among other things, I caught the largest fresh-water eel I have ever seen; but as I was dressed in summer resort fishing clothes, and feared the effects of eel slime on my trousers, I cut the eel loose, allowing him to depart in peace with my hook in his mouth. Black Crickets. These are good bait for almost all kinds of game fish, and are killing bait for bass and trout. Frequently, when bass will not notice a live minnow, crawfish, hellgrammite, or frog, he will eagerly snap at a black cricket.
There is but one way to catch this bait, so far as I know, and that is to seek it under the loose stones and chips,
where crickets delight to hide. I have had the best luck in open, sunny spots, hilltops, and pathways. Mr. Keene, in
his interesting notes on bait in Harper s Young People, advises his readers to look for crickets in a cool, damp
place; but he evidently found them, as I have, under chips and stones. Mr. Keene caught one hundred and twenty
four trout in one stream with black crickets.
Handle your crickets with care, not for fear that they might hurt you, but because they are easily injured, and their
usefulness is thus impaired. After you have collected a sufficient quantity for your purpose, hasten to place them in
some roomy receptacle, the bottom of which is plentifully supplied with damp gravel and small chips for hiding-
places. Otherwise they will eat each other.
Grasshoppers
are another good bait. Often a fish will take hold of a grasshopper when nothing else will tempt him to bite. Every
boy knows where and how to catch these long-legged insects, but to keep them alive for any great length of time is
more difficult.
How to Make a Grasshopper Box.
Take an old cigar box, make a square hole about two by three inches in the lid ; cover the hole with a piece of wire
netting. Make another hole just large enough to admit a finger. Make a sliding door of a small paddle-shaped piece
of wood, fastened with a screw at one end in such a manner as to allow the other end to slide over the hole (Fig.
90). Half fill' the box with green grass.
"Lampers."
This is the fisherman's name for what is generally known as the lamprey eel, and what is generally known as
lamprey eel is no eel at all. In spite of all this, the "lampers" are great bait for bass. Near Binghamton, last summer,
with a good lamprey for bait, I caught a bass weighing four pounds, two ounces, and my friend, Mr. James Johnson,
caught several weighing over three pounds, while Mr. Johnson's wife landed a six-pounder! These fish were all
weighed, measured, and recorded with their outlines in Mr. Johnson's book, kept for that purpose.
I say this because any one who has fished for black bass knows that a three-pound fish can send a thrill down the
spine of even old fishermen, and that the "four-pounders" are generally the fish caught around the camp-fire, and
not the real live fish of the streams.
Habits of the Lamprey. Last summer's experience compels me to speak of the lamprey with the greatest respect. If the fish are passionately fond of the lamprey, the lamprey is also passionately fond of fish, especially of shad, as may be seen from the following interesting account, which appeared in the New York Sun about the time I was making my first trial with them for bait. "The lamprey leaves the ocean in great numbers in March, proceeds to the head of tide-water in the rivers, and there actually lies in wait among the rocks for the shad that will soon be pushing their way up stream to spawn. The lamprey follows the shad on this interesting journey, fastening itself to the delicate fish by its mouth, which is simply an armed sucking disc with extraordinary adhesive power. The lamprey is always found fastened at the orifice from which the shad drops her eggs, and from which it sucks the roe, at the same time rasping the tender flesh of the fish with its sharp-toothed tongue, drawing blood from the shad to wash down the raped roe into its maw. The shad having by June become of little profit to the lamprey, the latter sets about attending to its own family affairs. "The female lamprey builds her nest in a swift current, making an excavation sometimes two feet deep. She frequently removes as much as a wheelbarrow load of stones in preparing her nest. She has such strength that she can haul up from the bottom stones weighing five pounds or more. Gluing her mouth to a stone, she works backward, drawing the stone after her. John G. Sawyer, of Sawmill Rift, once speared a lamprey in the Delaware as she was in the act of hauling up a stone in this way, and so firmly attached was she to the stone that it was lifted into the boat with her, she being pulled out of the water by the tail. "The male lamprey hovers about the spot while his mate is building the nest, watching her tugging away at the stones, but never offering any aid. As soon as the big nest is ready the female lamprey deposits her eggs in it, and swims away and dies. I can remember when the shores of the upper Delaware were lined, during the month of June, with dead lampreys and dead shad. As soon as hatched the young lampreys go ashore and bury themselves in the sand, where they are found by eager fishermen, who seek them for bait for other fish. "Properly cooked, the lamprey is good. There isn't a bone nor a suspicion of a bone in it. Place a lamprey in the sun and keep it there, and it will melt like so much butter, the only evidence that it ever existed being a grease-spot. A peculiarity of the lamprey's flesh is that, although it will melt away in the sun, it becomes tough when put in the frying-pan over a fire, and becomes tougher and tougher the longer it is fried. The only way it can be cooked so as to be fit for the table is by stewing it" How to Catch Lampreys. This is downright hard work, and anyone who digs his own lampreys earns all the fun he derives from their use as bait. With a spade in hand he wades in the water above his knees, and digs the soft sand and mud from the bottom, quickly throwing the contents of the shovel on the bank, where a companion looks it over for young lampreys. It takes a strong man to lift one of the shovels full of water and mud clear of the water. To buy lampreys is expensive, for no man we could find would dig them for less than four cents apiece, and some charged ten cents apiece for them. How to Keep Lampreys. Put them in the ice-chest in a pail of aquatic grass and ice, or, where it is possible, make a long, wooden box, and cover the bottom with clean sand. Set the box where the water from a spring can run through holes bored in the sides near the top for that purpose. Other holes in the opposite sides near the top allow the overflow water to run off. Have a good cover for your box, and wire netting over the air- and water-holes, or you will discover that some land animals are almost as fond of your expensive bait as the bass are. This box is also an excellent contrivance for keeping bull-heads and other minnows alive. The wire netting over the holes keeps out the garter and other snakes that need only a hint to avail themselves of the opportunity of feeding on your bull-heads. Lampreys are expensive to buy, to keep, and to handle. When taken out of the box to use, put them in a pail with grass and some big pieces of ice, and cover the whole up well with something to protect it from the sun. When you take a bait out you will find him so numb that it is not difficult to bait him. After he is once overboard, the warm water thaws him out so that he becomes exceedingly lively and tempting to the fish. Frogs are highly esteemed as bait by many fishermen, and there is no doubt that some fish are fond of them, and that most fish will bite at them at times. Wall-eyed pike, or Jack salmon, as these fish are called in Ohio, pickerel, bass, and large perch are caught with half-grown and not infrequently with full-grown frogs.
How to Bait a Live Frog. Some fishermen put the hook through the frog's lips, some through the web of one foot, some through the skin of the leg at the thigh, and others through the skin of the back. For my part, a live frog is a very unpleasant bait. Its human-like form and its desperate struggles to free itself by grasping the hook with its queer little hands, are too suggestive of suffering. To those who wish to use this bait, however, it will be a comfort to know that it is claimed that the frog is really less sensitive to pain than many other baits. As a rule, you should put a heavy sinker on your line when using a live frog, and frequently lift him out of the water, so that he may have a chance to breathe. At times, under certain conditions, it is an excellent plan to remove all sinkers and allow the frog to swim at will until he is gobbled up by some big fish which has been quietly resting under an old log or the lily-pads, watching for some foolish creature to swim by his ambush. How to Catch Frogs. One way is to walk alongside of the stream or pond and drive the frogs into the water. They will not go far, but make great pretensions of doing so, and kick up the mud so as to deceive and blind you as to their real hiding-place. A few moments' waiting, however, will allow the mud to settle, and then, near the shore, you will see a suspicious lump of mud, and you need not doubt that the frog has doubled on his track to mislead you. It may be that from this lump of mud two bulging eyes appear. At any rate quietly slip your hand in the water, and with a quick motion grasp the lump, and you will have the frog. Some boys acquire great skill in catching live animals. When I was a small chap I watched with interest the movements of a cat while in pursuit of birds, and discovered that its plan of action was simply this: slow, deliberate movement, with frequent and long pauses whenever the prey showed signs of alarm, no violent motion until the game was within reach; then a sudden stroke with a curved paw and extended nails seldom failed to grapple or hook the victim. Long I pondered over this, and then began a series of experiments, and could soon proudly boast of the capture with bare hands of a gray squirrel, several pigeons, a cage full of gold-finches, turtles and frogs by the gross not little, half-grown frogs, but great yellow-throated, green backed, full-grown bull-frogs. Once I crept up upon a big Virginia horned owl, and could undoubtedly have caught him, but I was a little chap, and when I looked at his great hooked talons my heart failed me, and I simply pushed him off his perch and fled as the astonished owl silently flew away. Since then I have seen a Virginia horned owl sink his talons through a heavy cowhide shoe. In such parts of the country where the streams have muddy margins and over-hanging banks, the boys walk along the bank, and when they see a frog squatting in the mud below, throw a piece of wood at it and bury the frog in the mud, where it is easily captured. Red Flannel Frog-bait. A full-grown frog will bite at almost any object that moves near it, except a snake. In some experiments I made with two frogs they both showed great alarm when a little baby garter-snake was put in the same aquarium with them. Yet one of these frogs afterward swallowed his mate, and attempted the same feat with my young alligator. Taking advantage of this desire of the frog to put himself outside of everything that moves, the boys bait their hooks with bits of red flannel, and dance the gaudy cloth in front of the frog's nose until he grabs it, and the hook grabs him. Three Hooks knitted together like a grapple, and fastened to a short line on a long pole, will enable the boy to catch frogs a long way from shore, among the lily-pads. The hook will not alarm the frog in the least, and a sudden jerk of the line when the hooks are under the frog will never fail to bring him kicking through the air safely ashore. Any sort of small live creature can be caught with these grapple hooks. How to Keep Frogs. Put them in a covered vessel of any kind that will hold water, but do not make the common mistake of filling or half filling the vessel with water, or you will drown all your frogs. Put a lot of gravel, mud, moss, or sand in the bottom of your frog-bucket, and add only enough water to saturate thoroughly the material at the bottom of your bucket. Use a perforated tin or wooden cover that will admit plenty of air, or a cover made of wire netting, or an old piece of mosquito netting, or any other cloth with open meshes that will admit plenty of air. In such a home the frogs will retain their health and vigor for any length of time. I have kept them for over a year alive and apparently happy. It is not necessary to feed them more than once in three weeks, so you need have no fear of starving them; as it is, you will seldom want to keep them longer than a week. Live Minnows. This bait, on the whole, is more satisfactory than any other live bait. It is more easily obtained than lampreys, is not as disagreeable to handle as insects and worms, and either suffers less, or at least appears to suffer less, than the frogs. Possibly a hook may hurt a minnow as badly as it does a frog, but the little fish has not the power of showing his discomfort or suffering so graphically. Besides all this, if you bait a minnow through the lips it can cause no more pain than cutting your own finger-nail.
To me the minnow is the king of live bait. When, as a child, I used to visit my grandmother in Northern Ohio, I was delighted to find the little brooks full of small fish, with bright red stripes on their sides. These are the famous "painted" minnow, and form excellent bait for the big black bass of Lake Erie. How to Catch Minnows. Where the bait is in small streams, the best thing to use is a rectangular net, with corks on the top edge and sinkers on the bottom, the net attached to two poles, one at each end. A home-made minnow net is described in the "American Boy's Handy Book." Take off your shoes and stockings and wade in the brook, one boy at each pole; slant the tops of the hand-pole down stream, being careful to keep the lower edge of the net on the bottom. Now move up stream, carefully plodding your way along so as not to foul your net on snags and stones in the bottom. When you think you have gone far enough, bring one end of the net quickly but carefully around to the shore where the other end is. Slide the bottom of the net up to the dry land and lift it all out of water. One haul should be enough to fill your minnow-bucket. How to make a minnow-bucket is also described in the "American Boy's Handy Book;" but, since the introduction of cheap wire netting in the market, any boy who calls himself an American should be able... To Construct a Serviceable Minnow-bucket by taking an ordinary tin pail and making a wire-netting cylinder that will fit loosely inside the tin pail, then cut a circular piece of netting for the bottom, and fasten it there with copper wire. A lid can be made of the same material as the cylinder and hinged on with wire, so that it may be opened and closed at will, or secured with a staple and pin. The object of the open work inside the pail is to make it easy to change the water without losing the bait; or the wire pail may be hung to the boat side in such a manner that the water will flow through it and keep the bait alive. How to Catch Minnows in Ponds, Lakes, or Deep Streams. Where the water is deep, minnows have the habit of congregating in great schools, and may be best captured with dip-nets, either by sinking them and waiting until the bait gathers over them, or by sinking the nets and then coaxing the bait over the traps by means of a handful of bread or cracker crumbs. A favorite, but slow, method in Pike County, Penn., is to fish for the minnows among the lily-pads with a small hook and piece of thread attached to a switch, and baited with a wee bit of an angle-worm, fish, or fresh-water mussel. How to Keep Minnows Alive. Keep them in a box similar to the one described for lamprey eels, or in a wooden box perforated with small holes and sunk in shallow water, or in a box made of wire netting and sunk in shallow water. Always be careful to fasten the box securely, because mink and coons have a disagreeable way of robbing minnow-boxes that are carelessly fastened and what they leave the water-snakes devour. I have more than once lost more than a pail full of minnows in one night in what appeared to be a most mysterious manner, until the imprint of little hand-like feet in the muddy banks near my box gave me a clew to the robber. In transporting minnows by rail or wagon they will live in a crowded bucket, because the agitation of the water keeps it fresh, but as soon as a long stop is made they will all die, unless the water is frequently changed. Crawfish may be caught by a net in streams with muddy, grass grown bottom, or by digging in the banks, or by lifting up the stones in shallow water. In lakes or ponds look for crawfish in the bottom, sand, or mud at the mouths of inflowing brooks or springs. It is a fact not generally known that there are no crawfish on Long Island. How to Keep Crawfish Alive. Keep them in boxes or pails with damp moss, gravel, or aquatic plants. Put in only enough water to saturate the plants. Do not flood them. Keep in a cool, damp place.
Miscellaneous Bait.
Butterflies, moths, caterpillars, bumble-bees, May-flies, caddis-flies (Fig. 94, E), blue-bottle flies, and meal-worms,
all make good bait at times. The last-named are to be found around old flour-mills, and with little trouble may be
reared at home in musty meal.
Looking-glass Bait.
A fish is not a vain animal, but he is a very jealous
creature, and looks with suspicion upon all his kind. A
pet fish will not tolerate the introduction of a stranger in
the aquarium, and, like a dog or a chicken, if a fish sees
a companion secure a
piece of food, that is
the piece of food the
first fish wants.
So, I am inclined
to place some credence
in the story of
the Petit Journal, to
the effect that a Mr.
William R. Lamb, of
East Greenwich, R. I.,
has taken advantage
of the jealous disposition
of the fish. By
fastening a mirror to
his line below the
hook, he deceives the
fish that may come
smelling around his
bait. Immediately
upon approaching the
bait, the fish discovers
his reflection in the glass, and hastily
snaps at the hook, so
as to get it before his
rival can do so.
According to one
authority Mr. Lamb is an Englishman, but according to another
he is an old fisherman of Greenwich, R. I. It matters
little where the inventor hails from -, here is his contrivance:
Take a small rod with a ring in the middle and one at
each end, and fasten a line to each ring. About six or
eight inches above the rod bring the lines together, and
tie them in such a manner that the two side lines are
exactly equal, and form what your geometry would call an
isosceles triangle, with the middle line running through the
centre.
If possible, procure a circular or oval mirror, about a
foot and a half in diameter, and fasten it by a ring in the
frame to the cross-rod. Attach your fish-line to the points
where the three lines meet, and fasten a short line with
hook attached to the ring at one end of the cross-rod in
such a manner that the bait will hang in front of the glass.
(Fig. 95-)
Mr. Lamb claims that this scheme has proved successful,
and there appears to be no reason why it should not. Still,
when the novelty is worn off, it seems probable that a fish
on the end of a clean line would feel better to the fisherman
than one attached to a line hampered with a great, flat
looking-glass.
Bottom Bait Bran and Bread. The buffalo-fish of the Western rivers, the German carp, lately introduced in many of our lakes and ponds, goldfish, and many other small fish, are fond of bread or dough, but these articles are difficult to manage, for the water washes them off the hook. I have seen fishermen on the Ohio River mix corn-meal with cotton, or roll it into balls, and tie them up in bits of mosquito netting, and bait their hook with these balls. Another method is to soak some bread until it is thoroughly saturated, then squeeze the water out and knead it with bran and meal until it becomes tough, like putty. Dead Bait Meat. Salt pork, cut in small chunks, bits of fresh meat, and the refuse of fish already caught, form tempting bait for eels, cat-fish, and other bottom fish. How to Pick Up a Live Eel. To pick up a live eel, grasp its throat between your hooked first and second finger, the rest of your fist being doubled up. (See Fig. 96.) If there is a dry, sandy, or dusty spot near at hand, toss the eel into it, and again pick him up. This time, on account of the dust or sand, you will find it much less difficult to hold him. How to Skin Him. After picking him up, throw him down on the ground with all your force. This will stun the animal, and you may now take a sharp knife and make a circular cut below the first or pectoral fins (Fig. 97). Then, with the fingernails, peel the skin back until you can get a good hold of it with your hands, which you have previously covered with dust. Now take hold of the head with one hand, and strip the skin back with the other hand as shown in the third position (Fig. 98).
Eel-tail Bait.
When you have skinned the eel to a point about three or four inches above the tail, cut the tail off with a sharp
knife, but leave it adhering to the skin. Turn back the skin still further, and cut off the turned-over portion of the
skin about half way down. A sharp pair of scissors will be best for this purpose.
Now take your fish-hook and run it through the flesh of the eel until the point of the hook protrudes at a point
between one and two inches from the tip of the tail. The sinker, a split buck-shot, should be fastened to the snell
just above the hook, and the skin must now be turned back above and cover the sinker. Here it must be tightly tied
with waxed silk thread Or fine twine-Now turn the skin down again so that it comes about half-way between the
gathered end of the skin at the top and the point of the hook at the bottom. With a needle and some strong, well
waxed thread sew the edge of the skin to the body bait. You understand, of course, that the point where you cut
the body of the eel off depends altogether upon the size of the eel used.
The eel-tail bait is tough, and will last a long time. It has a beautiful bluish color that pleases the fish, and in trolling or casting the free end of the tail wiggles in so tempting a manner that it makes a very killing bait. How to Keep Eels for Bait. Put them away in jars of coarse salt. In using salted eels for bait it is best to soak them for an hour or so in fresh water. This will make them plumper and improve the color. Skittering. For skittering, a dead frog or dead minnow is just as good as a live one, inasmuch as the constant twitching of the pole or rod causes the bait to skitter over the surface of the water. The action is so violent that live bait never survive more than one or two casts. Some large fish are caught by skittering, and at certain times of the year no other method seems to meet with much success. My first awkward effort at skittering in Pike County, Pa., was rewarded with a three and one half pound bass. When you are fishing at such times it will be useful to know ... How to Preserve Dead Frogs or Minnows, so that you may keep a supply on hand. One way is to put your dead minnows in salt, or in sugar, or in alcohol and water, or in whiskey, gin, or rum. But sweet-oil will keep them firm and fresh for perhaps the greatest length of time. Put the frogs or minnows in a pail of oil and this into a pot of boiling water, and keep it there until the oil reaches the boiling point. Then immediately remove it. Do not boil your bait, or you will make it soft, tender, and unfit for use. Other Bait. Boys, as a rule, are all fond of fishing, and, furthermore, are almost without exception bait fishermen, leaving the use of artificial flies, spoon-hooks, and other like devices to their fathers and older brothers. The almost universal bait of the small boy is the earthworm, garden-worm, angle-worm, or fish-worm, as it is variously called; but there are other equally as good, if not better, baits named in this chapter, so that the boys may not be at a loss for lack of knowledge of what to use as bait. As a rule, almost any small live creature will serve in an emergency. Even live mice make good bait for large trout, and I have known fish to swallow small birds that fell in the water while fighting. Cheese is a good bait for chubs, and boiled shrimp for perch and even salmon. Paste made of bread or dough and mixed with mashed shrimp, or sweetened with sugar or honey and colored red to attract attention, Isaac Walton and some modern writers claim is good for dace, carp, etc. Fish-spawn is called a poacher's bait. Caddis-worms, to be found in the bottom of ponds and brooks, are a killing bait. Caddis-worms build themselves little log-cabins or houses of stone, which they carry around, as a snail does its shell. They may be picked off the underside of stones and plants, and kept in a can with wet moss or aquatic plants (Fig. 94, A, C, B and D). Fish bite when they are so inclined, and no bait that I have ever used is certain to tempt them. I have used live hellgramites and minnows with no luck, while a boy beside me caught a four-pound bass on an angle-worm. Experience, observation, and an assortment of bait are what fill your fish-basket.
COMMON-SENSE PRECAUTIONS IN FISHING Why and How Fish are Easily Frightened. The Lessons of Nature and of Experience. IF you will sit perfectly quiet on the bank of a clear stream or lake, it will not be long before the inhabitants of the water will venture out of their hiding-places and swim around in plain view of the observer. What does this mean? If you shoot a pistol over your head, and make no quick motion with your arms or hands, even then the creatures under the water will not flee. What does this mean? Of course, my reader can answer for himself that all this means that sound has not much, if any, effect upon the fish, but that their eyes are quick to detect the slightest suspicious movement overhead or on shore. If you are in a boat and make a noise with your feet or anchor, the case is different, because you jar the water and that frightens the fish, but if you sit still, you may talk with no danger of alarming the game. Some may doubt this; nevertheless, I have fired a pistol over the water and killed a frog with the bullet without alarming the other frogs or the fish in plain sight. But as soon as I made a movement to gain possession of the dead frog, not only all the other frogs plumped into the water and all the turtles slipped off the logs where they had been peacefully baking their backs in the sun, but every fish in sight darted away to be out of reach of the dangerous two legged animal they saw approaching. Nature as a Teacher. The inference is that we must keep as motionless as possible when fishing, and when compelled to move, do so with great deliberation. If any one of my readers has ever watched a black-crested night-heron or any kindred bird as it fished in the shallow water, the motionless poise or the slow, deliberate movement of the bird could not have escaped notice. When you want to learn nature's secrets go to nature to find them out. Watch how the hunters with four legs and fishers with feathers act, and the nearer you conform your methods to theirs the greater will be your success. It is understood, of course, that in fly-fishing, casting, and skittering, motion is constant and unremitting, but even then the better you are concealed, the better will be your luck. In the woods of Pike County, Pa., there is a bright, noisy little brook that comes gabbling and gurgling down the mountain-side, now diving under moss-covered roots, and hiding a while, only to jump out and surprise you in an unlooked-for spot. After rambling along in a happy-go-lucky manner under the deep shade of tall pine-trees, it suddenly leaves the woods and sweeps out in a broad, deep pool into a pasture-field. Out of Sight of the Pool. Fishing down this stream a few summers ago, I came suddenly upon the pasture, but in place of climbing the fence, I cautiously poked my rod through the bushes until my fly hung directly over the spot where I supposed the pool to be. Then I gently allowed the fly to settle down, and I only knew when it struck the water by the sudden pull on the line. Without once seeing' the pool, I landed fourteen fine trout; there were no very large ones. But I had enough fish for breakfast and returned home. Effect of Being Seen. The next time I visited the brook I fished up the stream, and when I struck the pasture I climbed the fence and cast my fly from the bank; but I had been seen, and not one trout came near my hook. In approaching this hole on my first trip I was shouting and breaking my way through the underbrush with great noise, purposely, in order to make my whereabouts known to a companion, who was somewhere in the glen. The last time I made no noise, but approached on tiptoe. The first time I was unseen, and I think that I could, had I wished, have taken every trout out of that pool. But when they saw me on the second occasion, I had better gone on my way and not wasted time by fishing for panic-stricken trout. There is but one big trout in this brook and I hope some day to land him; he is in a round, deep hole in an open, exposed place, devoid of shelter, besides which the hole is a network of strong sunken sticks, a veritable snare for a fisherman's line; and the only apparent way to "catch" him is with a strong line and a sudden jerk. Yet this trout has not lived for years in his hole for nothing, and it is probable if any one ever captures him, it will be by meeting cunning with cunning, and not by brute force. Trolling with a Spoon. In trolling, the longer the line the better, for the very palpable reason that the boat frightens the fish, but with a long line the fish has time to recover from his fright before the spoon comes glinting by him. Of course, a spoon does not look like any sort of a live creature when it is stationary, but a darting silver sheen is all that can be seen in the water, and that does look like a very brilliant and very lively young fish disporting himself with youthful impudence under the very noses of his cannibalistic grandsires; and it is no wonder they snap at it, if only to teach the young rascal a lesson. But, alas ! they find that they are the pupils in the severe school of experience, and seldom do they live to relate their adventure to their companions. A Word about Fly-fishing. Now, in regard to fly-fishing, fly-rods, reels, lines, hooks, fly-hooks, and all the numerous accessories of the modern fisherman, there are books and books written upon such subjects, and there is not room here for a hundredth part of what might be and has been well said upon these topics; but bait -fishing and bottom- or still-fishing are the choice methods for boys, and could not be well left out of the spring sports. End of Excerpt. This (complete) title is available in the SSRsi Survival Library Return to Self-Reliance-Hunting>>Fishing
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