Bait

“ In nearly all traps a bait of some kind is required, in order to attract the prey, and when we come from land to attract the dwellers in water to our hooks, it is needful that bait of some kind should be used, were it only to deceive the eye, though not the nostrils or palate, of the fish. ”

“ In yonder foaming, flashing stream, where the waves are lashed into sparkles, and the vast human crowd disports itself, all eager after the glittering baits which are flung skillfully upon the waters by the angler Fate; what a ravenous rush and endless jostle, for the particular bait that attracts each taste do we see. How temptingly—how alluringly does the fly float upon the water to each eye that it is designed to attract—how tame, how dead, how utterly unworthy of notice to all others. ”

“ In fact, the only bait used by those people is in their opinion a composition of charms, inclosed within a bit of fish skin, so as in some measure to resemble a small fish. The things used by way of charm, are bits of beavers tails and fat, otter's vents and teeth, musk-rat's guts and tails, loon's vents, squirrel's testicles, the cruddled milk taken out of the stomach of sucking fawns and calves, human hair, and numberless other articles equally absurd. ”

“ Leave me alone, then, for a while. But that we may not be delayed, you shall be digging the bait meanwhile. Angle-worms are rarely to be met with in these parts, where the soil was never fattened with manure; the race is nearly extinct. The sport of digging the bait is nearly equal to that of catching the fish, when one’s appetite is not too keen; and this you may have all to yourself to-day. I would advise you to set in the spade down yonder among the ground-nuts, where you see the johnswort waving. ”

“ To make the bait more attractive, sometimes two or three gentles are put on the hook, and the bait is cast into a greyling eddy, and worked up and down smartly until taken by a fish. The angler strikes at every suspicion of a bite. ”

“ No two men or boys dig bait in quite the same way, though all share, no doubt, the singular elation which gilds that grimy occupation with the spirit of romance. The mind is really occupied, not with the wriggling red creatures in the lumps of earth, but with the stout fish which each worm may capture, just as a saint might rejoice in the squalor of this world as a preparation for the glories of the world to come. Nor do any two experienced fishermen hold quite the same theory as to the best mode of baiting the hook. ”

“ The new bait is noticed at once, and arouses their curiosity; several jump at it, and the one which swallows the bait can be lifted out before it has time to let go. However, this is after all poor sport; the game is too eager. ”

“ Good Baits always serve the double purpose. While the trap without bait, arouses the animal's suspicion and makes it cautious, The trap with the bait arouses the animal's passion and draws it to the trap. Certain odors causes the male to think that a female has frequented the place, and he gets careless and is caught. ”

“ Give all fish time to gorge the bait, and be not over hasty, except you angle with such tender baits as will not endure nibbling at, but must upon every touch be struck at, as sheep’s blood and flies, which are taken away at the first pull of the fish, and therefore enforce you, at the first touch, to try your fortune. ”

“ The fish that once was caught, new bait will hardly bite. ”

“ Walking-bait, which you take with you, and have ever in motion.
Concerning which two, I shall give you this direction; that your ledger-
bait is best to be a living bait (though a dead one may catch) , whether it
be a fish or a frog: and that you may make them live the longer, you
may, or indeed you must, take this course:
First, for your LIVE-BAIT. Of fish, a roach or dace is, I think, best and
most tempting ”

“ When free, its manners seem almost agitated as it darts eagerly on its prey, swallowing it so impetuously that it sometimes seizes the hook and bait which the fisherman has put out to take the fish, and thus wounds itself and becomes a captive. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If the fish are biting well he tears from one end to the other of his long rows of traps, playing a fish here, hauling one out there, setting a trap that has been sprung by the wind or the too eager wriggling of the bait, and on most fishing days, whether the fish bite well or ill, he has to constantly make the rounds of his holes, inspecting his hooks to see if the bait has escaped or been stolen, handling new ones in the icy water and skimming the young ice from the holes across his fishing. ”

“ It is laughable to see, when one is hooked, with what eagerness he is followed by the others, (while dragged through the water by his capturers,) all eager to seize the bait, they consider he is monopolizing; they pounce down upon it, and look surprised to find themselves quietly perched on the waves while the other poor hooked bird, bait and all, is before them in rapid progress towards being taken on board. ”

“ After we had killed our shark, the dead of the tide came on, in which very few fish bite. The bait hangs quietly at the bottom, and, even if a fish touch it, hardly moves: so that at this time of the night it requires a very practised hand to recognise the gentle vibration caused by some large fish playing with the hook. Of course, unless one does make sure somehow, and without striking hard, the fish blows the bait out of his mouth when the hook pricks him, and comes no more. ”

“ At the proper instant, which is just as the point of the rod goes over your head, release the pressure of your thumb and the bait will go forward as the line runs out rapidly. When the bait lands, reel in slowly and with various motions try to give to the bait as life-like an appearance as possible. If you have a strike, allow the fish sufficient time to obtain a secure hold of the bait and by a sudden jerk fix the hook in his mouth. ”

“ Bait may consist of any tough bit of meat, but rabbit is an excellent bait. Quail or almost any bird is good. Chicken also makes good bait. Squirrel is all right. For mink, fish is excellent. Mice, frogs and muskrat can all be used. Remember that the fresher and bloodier the bait the better — animals will scent it much quicker. They are also fonder of fresh bait than that which has been killed for days or weeks as the case may be. ”

“ In fishing for the whiting the amateur should use a hand-line about twice as stout as very thick twine, and with two hooks (not over large these latter, as the whiting has not a very large mouth) . Bait one hook with a worm and the other with a “white” bait, to give the fish a choice, as they are fastidious, and it is curious that on some days you will find they will take the one persistently when they will not look at the other. By a white bait I mean a piece of sprat or herring. The white bait takes best when the sea is thick and disturbed, as its glitter is seen by the whiting far off. ”

“ If you have ever gone fishing on a calm, beautiful summer day, and have looked down through the water, you have often seen the fish as they gathered around the hook, and then watched them as they nibbled at the bait. First they come up very shyly, and barely touch the bait with their nose. ”

“ To place a bait anywhere above the trap is well enough for an animal of less cunning than a fox. But to challenge that cunning in a fox, better way is to bury the bait. The proper way to go about it is to make a trail by dragging through the brush or thicket a hare, squirrel or bird, and at the proper distances along this blind trail, strew the feathers of some bird, or make a bed for your bait, no trap being set, until you "take the sign" of one of your varmints. ”

“ Sometimes, the fisherman uses a spoon hook or other bait in which the hooks are hidden beneath some bright-colored feathers or other material which looks tempting to the fish. The intended victim dashes after the alluring bait, seeing nothing but the glitter of the bright metal or the brilliancy of the colors. He loses his life as a result. ”

“ Unwary fishes, attracted by the dangling of the angler’s bait, approach the watchful monster, and while speculating on the nature of the bait, are suddenly engulfed in the capacious mouth, from which there is no escape on account of the backward direction of the teeth. ”

“ A small sheepshead is a more adroit stealer of bait than the cunner. It has a way of deftly pinching the bait from the hook without much, if any, disturbance. When small clams or mussels are used in the cracked shells, it is thought best by some anglers to give the fish a little time to "shuck" the bait before jerking on the rod. But my advice is to yank him just as quickly as if crab bait were employed. To hesitate is to be defrauded of either the fish or the bait. ”

“ A fisherman pushes out in a little boat, dressed in a color resembling that of his boat; and every day, for several days together, at the same hour, he sails over the same space, while doing which he throws a quantity of bait into the sea. Whatever is thrown from the boat is an object of suspicion to the fish, who keep at a distance from what causes them so much alarm; but after this has been repeated a considerable number of times, one of the fish, reassured by becoming habituated to the scene, at last snaps at the bait. ”

“ If you could see it twirling and wiggling in the water when it was dragged after the boat and we pulled fast, you’d see it looked just like a little live fish, and the mack’rel shoot theirselves after it through the water and hook theirselves. That’s the best bait for a mack’rel, and after the same fashion one nigger’s the best bait to catch more niggers. ”

“ It is another great mistake to suppose that an extra tasty food material is desirable as a bait. The same kind of mistake is made by people baiting a mouse trap with toasted cheese, whilst a bit of dry bread, or better still, a green pea, would much better entice a common mouse. ”

“ The bait pen is usually made by driving stakes in a circle from one of the trap stakes to the other stake on the same side of the bottom log. This style of a deadfall is alright as to handling bait, but I do not consider it a sure trap, as often the animal will set off the trap before it is far enough under the drop to make a sure catch. I prefer a trigger that will cause the animal to get at least one fore leg over the bottom piece before the trap is sprung. ”

“ Now, though we have called the stick upright, it is meant to fall from that position and lie along the ice, until a fish seizing the bait pulls its lower end, when with a jerk it rises. This contrivance is called a 'tip-up,' from the movement which is certain to follow the seizure of the bait. The fluttering of the coloured rag, as the stick rises, tells of the capture; and a great number of these self-acting fishers and indicators may be placed near together, each having its own hole in the ice; and each, by the fluttering rag, telling its own tale the moment a fish is caught. ”

“ Construct a figure 4 (Fig. 9 A) out of sticks as thick as one’s finger, making the bait-stick eighteen or twenty inches long. Set the figure 4 under the platform at the very end of the stick, the bait-stick passing between the upright stakes. Bait with a carrot, a parsnip, apple, etc., and a rat should be there in the morning.
If the trap does not lie flat on the ground place sticks under it. This same trap, baited with a fowl’s head or a bird or meat, is also useful as a skunk-trap, being placed in the woods near their burrows. ”

“ Bait, whether bird, fish, chicken, beef offals or rabbit, should be fresh for most animals. When trapping at dens the bait should be stuck on a short stick, so as to keep it off the ground, and placed back in the den, beyond the trap some eighteen inches or two feet. Should the bait be gone morning after morning and the trap unsprung, your game is pretty sure to be still in the den and living off your bait. In this case it will be a good idea to change and place the bait on the outside. If the animal is getting the bait from within, you are pretty sure to make a catch within a few nights. ”

“ Probably the best live-bait of all for thick or clouded water is a medium-sized dace, as its scales are peculiarly brilliant, and the fish itself by no means easily killed. In case of waters in which the pike are over-fed, I should recommend my readers to try them with live gold-fish.... If gold-fish are not forthcoming, small carp form a very killing and long-lived bait. The bait should not be left too long in one place, but be kept gently moving. ”

“ This bait is then dropped into holes between the weeds or rushes, and is worked up and down by the lifting and fallin- of the rod-point, the lead within the bait causing it to shoot and dart along as though the fish were alive. When a pike seizes it, ten minutes must be allowed for him to pouch, when the angler must strike firmly, hold on, and get his fish out as well as he can. It is by no means the pleasantest method of fishing, as the waiting is tedious. The fish constantly runs the line foul of the weeds, &c. ”

“ The charges of cruelty and frivolity have been often brought against angling by those who have taken no interest in its gentle excitement. From the former we fear it cannot entirely be cleared, at least so long as living vertebrate animals, whether frog, fish, or mouse, are used as bait. ”