ON RAPID STREAMS.
197
far as you are able or willing to spin him, reverse very rapidly the direction of the movement of your rod ; your minnow in course suddenly turns round and runs up stream as hard as he can go. Now^ it often happens just at the moment when you reverse your rod^s direction and make the minnow dart up stream, that a trout has been watching the minnow, but has not had resolution enough to run at him; the sudden dart the minnow has finally made has settled the question, and fearful that he will lose his prey, he makes a dart and gets the hooks into him. In spinning the minnow,- always keep the line in the left hand, and should you, at any time, see a trout swimming on behind the bait as though he could not quite make up his mind to go in at it boldly, just give a good jerk on the line, so that the minnow will dart suddenly and with increased velocity, and you will find that the trout will rush into him greedily. Again, if in spinning, your rod is brought to, by a tree or bush, so that you can no further move it in the direction requisite to continue the spinning as before of the minnow, you may yet make him continue to spin correctly by pulling on the line with the left hand. Always keep this left hand on the alert, and be ready to use it promptly. You will pick up a lot of trout by the dextrous working of the minnow, even when your rod cannot be moved. If you see a fish following your minnow, you must work him along
gone as
—
briskly, in whatever
way you can most advan-
tageously do so, just as
if
he were trying to run