part the
swivel. If, however, a swivel has been tested by a dead lift of twenty
to twenty-five pounds, it will do to trust.

I have spoken only of brass or copper wire for snells, and for
pickerel or mascalonge of large size nothing else is to be depended on.
But for trout and bass; strong gut or gimp is safe enough. The
possibilities as to size of the mascalonge and Northern pickerel no man
knows. Frank Forester thinks it probable that the former attains to the
weight of sixty to eighty pounds, while he only accords the pickerel a
weight of seventeen to eighteen pounds. I have seen several pickerel of
over forty pounds and one that turned the scale at fifty-three. And I
saw a mascalonge on Georgian Bay that was longer than the Canuck guide
who was toting the fish over his shoulder by a stick thrust in the
mouth and gills. The snout reached to the top of the guide's head,
while the caudal fin dragged on the ground. There was no chance for
weighing the fish, but I hefted him several times, carefully, and am
certain he weighed more than a bushel of wheat. Just what tackle would
be proper for such a powerful fellow I am not prepared to say, having
lost the largest specimens I ever hooked. My best mascalonge weighed
less than twenty pounds. My largest pickerel still less.

I will close this discursive chapter by offering a bit of advice.

Do not go into the woods on a fishing tour without a stock of well
cleansed angle-worms. Keep them in a tin can partly filled with damp
moss and in a cool moist place. There is no one variety of bait that
the angler finds so constantly useful as the worm. Izaak Walton by no
means despised worm or bait-fishing.

CHAPTER VI
Camp Cookery--How It Is Usually Done, With A Few Simple Hints On Plain
Cooking--Cooking Fire And Outdoor Range

THE way in which an average party of summer outers will contrive to
manage--or mismanage--the camp and campfire so as to get the greatest
amount of smoke and discontent at the least outlay of time and force,
is something past all understanding and somewhat aggravating to an old
woodsman who knows some better. But it is just as good fun as the
cynical O.W. can ask, to see a party of three or four enthusiastic
youngsters organize the camp on the first day in, and proceed to cook
the first meal. Of course, every man is boss, and every one is bound to
build the fire, which every one proceeds to do. There are no back logs,
no fore sticks, and no arrangement