Fig. 6.
Sheet-lead is always a useful aid in make-shift fishing-tackle, and for light lines makes excellent sinkers when bent and compressed around the line, as shown at Fig. 4, B.
For a pole nothing is nicer than a light and straight piece of the aromatic sweet-birch. I am not a convert to hundred-dollar fishing-poles with polished mountings, but have reasons to still believe there is much virtue in birch.
For cleaning out a boat a stiff whisk-broom made of fine birch twigs bound together with wire or fishing-line, as shown at Fig. 5, will be found very useful.
Fig. 6, A and B are hand-made sinkers beaten and carved out of old lead pipe. The carved one, B, is first roughed out with a jackknife and finished up with fine emery or sand paper. A is beaten into shape with a railroad spike on an anvil or smooth stone. This beating and carving of lead is very pleasant work, the lead being of such an easy and good-natured temper.
Fig. 7.
For a cheap and easily obtainable bailer I have made use of an empty tomato or corned beef can, as shown in Fig. 7. A hole sufficiently large to admit of the handle is punched in the side of the can, the inside end of the handle is champered off so as to fit close to the inner side of the can; through the can and into the end of the handle a stout nail is driven, as at A.
A good bait for large fish is a strip cut from the under side of a small pickerel, perch, or sunfish, which is placed on the hook as shown in Fig. 8.
