FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



to fish with the bait upon a flight of hooks arranged 

 to give a spinning motion to it, where the hooks 

 are intended to take hold of the fish before he 

 swallows it, and where the strike is made as soon as a 

 fish is felt, and the chance of a kill depends largely 

 upon the hold that the hooks may have and retain 

 upon the bony interior of the pike's mouth. 



Many anglers must have suffered great incon- 

 venience from the occasional tendency of their 

 spinning tackle to kink or twist, despite their use 

 of proper swivels. I have found that a certain 

 cure for this trouble consists in removing the 

 sinker from the line itself, and arranging it upon 

 a short auxiliary line, fastened to the main line by 

 both ends, so that the lead hangs horizontally be- 

 neath it. This should be done immediately above 

 the swivel, and the difficulty will be found to have 

 disappeared. 



When the pike has been landed or taken into 

 the boat, the angler, if he be wise, will not put 

 his hand into the mouth of the fish to extract the 

 hook, until the pike has been well and truly killed. 

 His teeth are sharp and venomous, and he will en- 

 deavor to use them upon his enemies, as long as 

 he has life. 



Instances are on record of pike having been 

 taken by a fly. Some years ago, a gentleman who 



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