Artificial Baits For Fishing

( Originally Published 1912 )

BAITS of wood, metal, rubber, and other materials are much used by present-day anglers. Some of these resemble minnows, but as a rule they do not imitate any living creature, differing in this way from the artificial fly, but are probably mistaken by the fish for live creatures, anyway the fish attack them and some of these baits have proved very successful. Perhaps the oldest of all artificial baits is the phantom minnow, which is, unlike many of the later creations, an imitation of a real minnow, and the manufacturers really do try to make it look like a small fish. It is an old standard bait, but is not as successful as some of the later ones. They are usually made of silk, though one brand is made of porpoise hide. They have spinning wings attached to the head and are furnished with three treble hooks fastened to gut or gimp snells. One treble is just behind the head; another trails farther back on the body, and the third hangs just behind the minnow's tail, so that a fish can hardly strike the bait without getting caught on one of the hooks.

Then there are imitations of frogs, helgramites, mice, grasshoppers, crickets, grubs, worms, etc., usually made of rubber but these are not used as much as some of the later freaks and are not as good fish catchers, either, except, perhaps, the rubber frog, which is a very good bait.

The trolling spoon is one of the oldest and most successful of artificial baits and is adapted to the capture of all fresh-water game fish, as well as many kinds of ocean fish. The first trolling spoon was a real spoon, or rather the bowl of one, dessert size, with a hole in one end for the line and a single hook attached to the other end. It is the simplest form of spoon bait and none of the dozens that have been designed since have proved more successful. But very few of them are made this way now and most of them have a small ring at the small end of the spoon and it spins on a short section of heavy brass wire having a loop at one end for a treble nook and at the other end a loop to which a brass or bronze swivel is fastened. Under the spoon is a short tube fitted loosely on the wire and sometimes a bead is placed over this for the spoon to revolve on. The hooks may be plain, but are more often covered with feathers or deer hair to conceal the hooks and act as weed guards. The spoon may be of any kind of metal and is plated, painted or polished to make it more attractive, usually being one color on the inside and another color on the other. Spoons are also made of mother-of-pearl, which is very attractive.

Tandem spoon baits are also made, one spoon being placed a short distance above the other.

The spoon may be of any of the standard shapes, and I think it makes little difference whether it is round, oblong or kidney shaped, smooth or fluted. The size is more important and I think that the smaller ones catch the most fish. A spoon measuring about 1 inch long will be best, in my opinion, for most fishing, although very large ones are used for muskellunge. The illustration showing a muskellunge spoon says "Cut i size," but this is a mistake. The exact length of this spoon is 31 inches. It makes no difference, to my mind, whether the hook is feathered or not, but a buck-tail or feathered hook will catch fewer weeds. If a single hook is used, and I prefer that, it need not be draped, but if it is the, feathering, should not be heavy. There are also spoon baits with large fly hooks attached which are very popular for bass fishing.

The only spinner that should be used for bass and trout is the small casting spoon, which is a very small spoon with a single undraped hook attached. A worm can be used on the hook but it is unnecessary the spoon alone is attractive enough. The double hook casting spoons are for use with live bait.

A very good bait, attractive to all game fish, is the Pearl Wabbler. The darting movement of this spoon makes it very attractive. There are other spoons of metal made on the same pattern. These are the same as the original trolling spoon except that they have treble hooks.

In addition to spoons there are also spinners which serve the same purpose. They are leaf-shaped blades attached by loops along the center line to a brass wire link and the lobes of the leaf being turned in opposite directions cause the blade to revolve rapidly when drawn through the water.

In late years since bait-casting has become so popular large numbers of artificial baits have been placed on the market. They are of every imaginable shape and combination of colors, and to describe all of them or to say which is best is impossible; indeed, I can say that there is no "best" bait, for the one that catches the most fish one day must take a back seat the next, and some other one will prove more tempting. Again, the bait that is good in some waters is not good in others.

Some time ago there was a warm controversy between the manufacturers of the Decker and the Coaxer baits, which ended in a fishing contest. The outcome could hardly be called decisive, but it was proved conclusively that they are both excellent baits for black bass.

There are many baits of the minnow form and I think they are all attractive at times. These are made in all colors, usually have a spinner at head and tail and three sets of treble hooks, the rear treble sometimes feathered. Some of these have weedless hooks and if the water is grassy or weedy it is best to use that kind, otherwise the plain ones are preferable. Some of these minnow baits have no spinners at all and some have only one or two gangs of hooks. There are large ones and small ones; fat ones and slim ones.

Some of these are surface baits and some are under-water baits. One known as the Wagtail Witch dives beneath the surface when reeled in rapidly, otherwise rides on the surface. The Nemo bait is both a surface or under-water bait, depending on where the weight is placed. The Roamer resembles a large bug and it is said to be a good bait. Some, such as the Moonlight Floating Baits, are luminous for use at night. There is a Pearl Minnow which is a combination of spoon and minnow bait, and so the list mounts up and each season there are many new ones added to the list.

One that is known as the Booster bait is on the bordel between the artificial and the natural baits. It is made of red, white and yellow cloth and is filled with substances said to attract fish by its taste or odor when wet. It has no hooks and is used same as a natural bait. Each bait will last for a day or a day and a half of fishing.

For salt-water fishing artificial baits are also used, but they do not vary so much in form. They are usually some form of spoon or an imitation of a small squid or cuttlefish and called squids.

Squids are made of block tin, bone, cedar wood (weighted) and pearl. They are used for mackerel, weak-fish, bluefish, etc.

Spoon baits for use in salt-water are of large size and usually have the hooks attached to the end of the spoon. The Wilson's, Sam's and Stewart spoons are the most popular. They are used for kingfish, barracuda, bluefish, yellowtail, tarpon, sea trout, mackerel, amberjack, etc.

There are also spinning baits for mackerel and weakfish and others for striped bass. These latter are to be baited. They are mounted on double hook rigs and are shaped like the spinners made for fresh-water fish, like a triangular, deeply lobed leaf, placed upside down.