like a live one. I always treat a minnow as Izaak Walton spoke
of a frog, "as if I loved him."

The angler cannot be too careful of his minnows. I change the water
frequently, not waiting for them to come up to breathe; it is then
too late, and they cannot be resuscitated. In hot weather I place a
piece of ice in flannel on the top of the pail. A little salt added
to the water is a great improvement, about as much as will lie on a
silver quarter, to two gallons of water. Fifty minnows to a five
gallon pail with a handful of weeds to keep the fish from bruising
themselves, is about the right proportion of fish to space.

Of all baits the old Florida "bob," I think, is still the most
effective. It was mentioned by Bertram, in 1764, and is still used.
It is made by tying three hooks back to back, invested with a piece
of deer's tail somewhat in the manner of a large hackle, studded with
scarlet feathers, forming a tassel or tuft similar to that used on
the trolling spoon. If this be thrown with a sweeping surface draw
under trees or bushes, it is almost irresistible.

On the spoon I always run a lamper or a minnow, and for slow water,
like the stream at Milton, or for lake fishing, I manufacture one as
follows: A spoon not more than three quarters of an inch in length.
If you cannot buy one so small, get one made by some working jeweller
or metallist. Then slide a round black bead as large as a pea on your
line just above your hook, letting the spoon be above it. This will
be found to spin in the slowest water, and, as every bass fisher
knows, the slower the rate of progression, the better, so long as the
spoon is spinning. I seldom use any sinker at Milton Lake, there
being little or no current, and the trees as a rule keep off any
wind. In the stream I generally drift down, letting my line float in
front of the boat, and getting well down stream troll back up stream,
to drift down again. For the benefit of the tyros I may here remark,
that success in trolling for bass, I think, depends largely upon a
perfect knowledge of the depth of water, and that the bait should be
kept about eighteen inches from the bottom all the way. I study the
pools in my favorite streams, locating them by trees, etc., on the
bank, and then judge the depth my bait lies at by the angle at which
my line runs from my mouth or pole to the water. This will, with a
little practice, tell me at what depth my bait is swimming. Dobsons
and small bull-he