Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/332

his line. In this manner one man will succeed in catching from ten to fifteen pounds in a day.

A gentleman who seems to be posted upon the subject of smelt fishing sends me the following device, which ought to have been included in the chapter on odd modes of fishing. Image missingFig. 199.The Umbrella Smelt Tackle. My correspondent says: "During the fall months the smelt run in large schools up the creeks and streams emptying into the ocean, and are caught with seines or nets by professional fishermen for market. To be sure, no true sportsman could make use of such means for capturing game; still, as it is necessary to take these small fish in large numbers to make a respectable mess, some ingenious sportsman has evolved a fishing-tackle with which one can legitimately do wholesale fishing. To a line on an ordinary pole is attached an apparatus resembling an umbrella-frame without the handle; from the point of each bow hangs a line and hook (Fig. 199); in this way six or eight smelt may be taken in the time it would require to catch one with a single line."

For boys who live inland where smelt fishing is out of the question, there are other fish whose gamy nature will impart more fun and excitement to their capture. Long rods would be out of place within the narrow limits of a little cloth-covered fishing box; but hand lines or short rod and reel may be used. When a short rod is used it is only for the purpose of facilitating the use of the reel, and the rod should not be over two and one-half feet long. Fish may also be snared or speared through holes in the ice by boys concealed in little