thanks, guys!
backcountry ~ that photo is a bit misleading ~ what i normally do is take an empty line, then thread on an egg sinker, then tie on a regular snap swivel on the end of the line and then snap on a plain old eagle claw snelled hook of approrpiate size. this allows the sinker to ride up and down the line without pulling on whatever rig i am using, and when a fish nibbles or takes the bait, there is no resistance. it's quick, it's easy and it works for any fish (including northern pike if you use a bigger sinker and steel leader.
in this case, though, i didn't have an egg sinker on, so i clipped on the bell sinker at the swivel and then the hook on the same swivel. the misleading part is that while i was playing the fish in, the worm that was on the hook rode up the leader of the hook and stopped at the swivel. in other words, the worm SHOULD be in the fish's mouth along with the hook, which can't be seen in this photo. the empty space between the fish and the worm/sinker is actually the leader of the hook after the worm worm rode up the leader during the fight.
these fish were all caught in the bear paw mountains south of havre at rotary pond (an old gravel quarry that filled with water from beaver creek) and bear paw reservoir (just down stream a bit). beaver creek itself is home to some good brook, rainbow, brown and cutthroat fishing, but we didn't get on the creek that day.
