The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-18
HOW THEY LURE THE FISH.
Different Bait Used by Anglers to
Cstch the Limit.
(AnsWers.)

No one except a fisherman or a fly
dresser has the faintest conception OF
the enormous variety of materials
used in the manufacture of flies, es-
! pecially salmon flies.
Trout flies are made to resemble va
rious real insects, but salmon flies have
no likeness to anything that inhabits
earth. air or water. and to this day
no one knows why the king of fish is
fool enough to snatch at the gaudy
lures which are cast across the pools
above mis- head.
Take such a well known salmon fly
as the "Silver Doctor" The feathers
Of five different birds are used to build
it-namely, those of the Iidian crow.
the bluejay, the pheasant, the turkey
and the pintail duck; silver wire, vel
low floss silk, sky-blue hackle and
scarlet wool are also necessary for the
tying of this fly.
There is hardly any brilliantly plu-
mayed bird known whose feathers are
not in demand for f1y-tying. Jungle
fowl, blue chatterer, scarlet ibis. bus
tard, swan, m3caw, peacock, mallard.
Indian roller, teal wood duck, grouse.
eagle and fiOrican are only a few of
those whose feathers are slowed away
in the drawers of any fishing tackle
manufacturer. You will also find gold
and silver wire, gold and silver tinsel,
silk of every color under the sun, che
mile of many different hues, worsted,
mOhair, and fur of a number of differ
ent animals
There is an artificial gray gnat used
for trout fishing which is made partly
of mouse whiskers, and is in conse-
quence one of the most expensive trout
flies which you can purchase.
Gaudy flies for salmon fishing are no
new invention Writing two and a
half centuries ago. Richard Franck
says; Remember always to- carry
your clubbing bag about with you
wherein ought to be silk of all sorts,
thread, thrumbs, moccado-ends and
crOueis of all sizes and varieties of COL
or; diversified and stained wool, with
dogs and bears hair, besides twisted
fine threads Of gold and silver: with
feathers from" And he goes on
with long list of birds of brilliant
plumage.
But, even for the noble salmon, there
are many other bats used besides the
fly. The most deadly is, without doubt,
salmon roe, the use of which IS pro-
hibited in almost every part of the
civilized world. The Gardeners Fan
cy," in other words. the common lob
worm, is first-class salmon bait, and
so is prawn boiled to a delicate pink
hue. On most good rivers these bats
are, of course, illegal.
Some believe in amounting their bats
with various strong smelling oils or
unguents. The aforementioned Rich
ard Franck did so. He advocates put
ting worms into a lignum vitae box
which has first been anointed with "the
chymical oil Of bays, sulphur, Barba-
does tar, ivy, or cOrnu cerviw Poor
worms! One wonders how long they
survived in such a horrible mixture.
Trout will take a very wide variety
of bait. A grasshopper is most killing,
and so is a bluebottle set on a small
hook and used with a blow line.
The roach fisher knows the virtue of
boiled wheat. The softened grains are
taken with eagerness by these fish,
while perch viii go vigorously for
clump of fiour-and-water dough. A
perch has been taken by an angler who
had run short of bait with the eye of
a previous capture stuck upon the
point. of a hook.
Thames fishermen will tell you the
virtues Of cheese paste as a bait for
club, and these rather shy fish can
also be taken with a very ripe cherry
in which hook is artfully concealed.
Almost all fish have cannibal propensi-
ties, so that the young of their own
species prove an irresistible bait for
the Older and larger members. This
is specially true of trout, and many an
angler has known of cases where a
small hsh hooked has been seized be-
fore IL could be brought to land by
larger one of the same variety.