I'KKCII. 



Fig. 9. 'Briglit hook' 



(Sw. Ieker^\>hi\s) in a inaiiiicr iiiipossililc to dcscriltc 

 exactly, in order to iiixc the hook a certain ninlion 

 wiiich (Mitices the Perch to hite. W'licii a fish Kites, 

 it is lainh'd hy wiiidinii' in the line Itetween the ice- 

 shovel and tlie rod, ihc former heinu' held in the iisher- 

 nian's riuiit hand and the lattei- in his left. To bait 

 the hook he makes nse of a bit of bacon 

 as lariic as a pea, or the eye of a Perch 

 jnst caught; the hook may also be a so- 

 called 'l)rig'ht hook' (Sw. hlankkrok) and 

 withont any l)ait at all. This hook 

 should be of the ri<;iit shape, and must 

 be kept bri^uht. The fisherman looks 

 for the fish in the f()llo\\in<i; way: \\v. 

 tries a hole here and there, each hole 

 l)eing from 10 to 13 yards away from the others, until 

 he fiuds one or more fish in a hole. Then he begins 

 to try holes close to the same spot, sometimes not more 

 than two yards apart. We may see how little the Perch 

 moves about at this season, from the fact that the fisher- 

 man often takes several in one hole, but does not get 

 a single bite in another close by. 



The 'slinging rod" {fttimspo) may be employed with 

 a fair amount of success. This must be in summer, 

 however, the season when the Perch collects in shoals; 

 and the best time of day is from 6 p. m. till sunset. 

 The day should be calm and warm. The angler must 

 have a boatman with him, and should Ije rowed out to 

 the reef's in the bights of the lake where the Perch 

 lias taken up its abode. \A'hen the shoal approaches, 

 the hook should l)e cast and trailed aloii"' the surface 

 of the water. The boatman should l)e skilful enough 

 to steer the coble after the shoal without any noise or 

 splashing. The Ijait should consist of a bit of dried eel-skin 

 (Sw. stimlapp) cut in the shape of a bleak or a smelt, or 

 a triangular strip of skin cut from the belly of a Perch. 

 Another mode of fishing is practised in some places. 

 The tackle employed is known as 

 'striking hook' (Sw. hufigkrok, fig. 10). 

 The autunni, jjeginning at the middle 

 or the end of August, is the only 

 season for this fishing, and the spot 

 selected should he in shallow water, 

 or near shore and close to the edge 

 of the reeds, where the water is fairly 

 deep. The tackle used con.si.sts of a 

 piece of lead about 3 inches long and shaped like a fish, 

 on each side of which is a large steel hook. The angler 



Fig. 10. 'Striking hook'. 



should be alone in his boat, and when he has reached 

 the place where he intends to fish, lie keeps the l)oat 

 still by ])lying his oars in a certain waj-: he holds them 

 with his left haml, wliile with his right he drops the 

 hook to the l)ottom and (piickly jei'ks it u]) again as 

 soon as it has sunk. The Perch, mistaking the piece 

 of lead for a real fish, darts forward to seize it and is 

 caught on the point of one of the .steel hooks. As soon 

 as the fisherman feels that he has .struck a Perch, he 

 must di'op his oars witliont a moment's delay and draw 

 up the fish into the boat. He should never slacken the 

 line, for tlien the fi.sh may easily slip oft' the hook. 



Another mode of fishing, suggested by the voracity 

 and greediness of the Percii, is the night-line (Sw. lang- 

 re/=long line). The season for this is the same as 

 that for angling. When setting the line, one should 

 remember that if it is to be .set only for Perch, it ought 

 not to be placed in deep water, but nearer shore, around 

 rocks or shoals, etc. Small fry or lobworms are u.sed 

 as bait, and in baiting the hooks one .should follow the 

 advice already given under the head of angling. The 

 line should not l)e set before sunset, .so that the bait 

 may not be eaten by small fishes, ^vhich swim about in 

 the water during the daj'time. It should not be left 

 unexamined until late in the day, for in that case a 

 number of fish manage to escape, and others die and 

 thus lose flavour. In order to facilitate the setting of 

 the line, when dead bait is used, a box (Sw. refldda) 

 is employed, in which the line is placed ready for setting 

 and measured in fathoms. EverA" three or four fathoms 

 a. loop with a hook ready baited attached to it is 

 fastened to the line. The upper edge of the box has a 

 number of notches cut in it, into which the hooks are 

 inserted. When the line is to be examined, it is only 

 lifted up from the bottom of the water, tlie hooks, from 

 which the ])ait has been taken, are baited afresh, and 

 those on which a fish is found, are unfastened and other 

 liooks set in their place, ^^'ilen the line is taken up, 

 it is coiled in the box and the hooks are placed in the 

 notches. When the line is examined or taken up, the 

 fisherman must have a small landing-net ready, in which 

 to lift the fi.sh out of the water and get them into the 

 boat. Some persons use a gaff for this purpose, A\liicli 

 they strike into the belly or gills of the fish, and 

 then lift it out of the water. This method is, however, 

 not so sure as the former. The line must be examined 

 daily, and ouglit not to be left in the water more than 

 three or four days without being taken uj) and dried. 



