You must for this kind of Angling, have a tolerably strong Rod and
tackle, you may begin trolling about the middle of March, and continue
to the end of October. The very best of fish are taken with the Minnow,
it is an active bait to fish with, and keeps the Angler pretty well on
the _qui vive_. When the water is in order, that is, after it is a
little swollen and discoloured by recent rain, it frequently proves a
most destructive bait, and will take Salmon as well as Trout. Those
Anglers who are desirous of a few good fish, will find it their
interest to use it on every suitable occasion, independent of the good
fish to be had with it, it is next to fly fishing, the most animating
and exciting method of angling. To make your Minnow spin well, one or
two swivels should be used, attached to the gut, which should be about
a yard in length and of fine and good quality. In fishing the Natural
Minnow with two hooks, one of them must be large enough to pass through
the body of the bait, going in at the mouth, and passing out at the
tail; the other, rather larger than a May-fly hook, should go through
the under, and pass out at the upper lip. In trolling with only two
hooks, be careful to give your fish time to gorge, otherwise by
striking too quickly, you will miss your prize by pulling the bait out
of his mouth. With three or more hooks, which is termed fishing at
snap, you cannot strike too soon as the fish is generally caught by one
of the loose hooks. If the fish you have hooked be not too heavy, the
best plan is to land him at once by a quick and sudden jerk. In fishing
the Minnow, if in still, deep water, let it sink a little at first,
then draw it quickly towards you, making the bait spin well and
briskly, which is effected by the swivel. In streams, especially if
they be rapid, cast up and down, but chiefly athwart, by so doing your
bait shows greatly to advantage. Trolling in the Tees is not much
practised; the difficulty of procuring Minnows at the precise time when
wanted, is I suppose the reason. But there are artificial Minnows which
in heavy waters will kill well; those sold by Frederick Allies, South
Parade, Worcester, and by Farlow, Tackle Maker, in the Strand, London,
are excellent, the price for Trout reasonable, two shillings and six
pence. The former is styled the Archimedean, the latter the Phantom
Minnow, which collapses when struck by a fish. The best river I have
ever trolled in, and I do not suppose there is a better in England, is
the Eden, which takes its rise a few miles from Kirby Stephen, in
Westmoreland, thence to Carlisle, and so seaward, running for the most
part over a gravelly and sandy bottom, and full of good Trout, so that
splendid sport may be had by trolling when the water is in proper
order. The Greta is an excellent trolling stream, but the fish are not
near the average weight of those in the Eden. It is not a bad plan when
the water is low and fine, and Minnows are easily procured, because you
may then see where they are, especially on a sunny day, to catch as
many as you want, (which you may do, with small hooks baited with very
small red worms,) and then cure them. Of course those cured are not so
good and durable as the fresh, but still they are found to take fish
very well. And thus provided with artificial and pickled auxiliaries,
the indefatigable troller will never be brought to a stand. For what
can be more provokingly annoying to an angler, than to have to leave
off in the very midst of sport, merely for want of baits?