54 best's art of angling. 



proceed any further in this mode of angling for 

 the pike, I shall give the angler a description of the 

 kind ot rod, line, andhooks, necessary to be used. 

 Your rod must be a strong one, and ringed for 

 the line to pass through, and about three yards 

 and a half long; your line about thirt}^ yards 

 long, wound upon a winch, to be placed on the 

 butt end of your rod, and with which, you may 

 always keep your line to any length; and at the 

 end of your line next the hook let there be a 

 swivel. The hooks that are most general are 

 the two following ones; they are formed and 

 baited in this manner. Tlie first is no more than 

 two single hooks (though you may buy tliem 

 made of one piece of wire) tied back to back, 

 ■with a strong piece of gimp between the shanks; 

 in whipping the gimp and hooks together, make 

 a small loop, and take into it two links of chain, 

 about an eighth of an inch diameter; and in the 

 lower link (by means of a staple of wire) fasten 

 by the greater ead a bit of lead, of a conical 

 figure, and angular at the point. The second 

 hook may be either single, or double, with a long 

 shank, and leaded two inches up the wire, with 

 apiece of lead about a quarter of an inch square; 

 at the greater or lower end fix to the shank an 

 armed wire about four inches Ions:, and at the 

 top of the wire, about half a yard of gimp, with 

 a loop at the top of that: to bait this hook, you 

 must have a brass needle, about seven inches 

 long; put the loop of the gimp on the eye, or 

 small curve of the needle, then thrust it into the 

 mouth of the fisli, and bring it out at his tail, 

 drawing the gimp and wire along with it, till 

 the lead is fixed in the belly of the bait-fish, and 

 the hook, or hooks, are come to his mouth ; then 

 t^rn the points of the hooks towards his eyes, ii" 



