1009 



Fig '2(iO. Pallcrol,: 



Trolling (Sw. slant), an old and well-known me- 

 thod of angling, the descri])tion of" whicli would carry 

 us too far, if we attempted to give ever}' detail. Ihre 

 derives the Swedisli name from the Belgian slotuh'ii (to 

 gorge). The rod and line are plied from a rowing- 



grass oi' weeds tliat grow :it the hottoni or in mid- 

 water withiiut reaching tlie surface, in whicli case the}' 

 may be avoided l)y the angler. Lastly the snood — a 

 suitable violin-string (silver-string) is best — is fastened 

 with a peculiar kind of knot (tig. -HW. //), tied in the 

 loop at the end of tlie line. Now the frnlliiif/ begins: 

 tlie l)ait is (iro|>ped wiiere the fisliernian hopes to find 

 a I'ike, l)ut soon drawn up again, so as to keep it bob- 

 bing up and down. This motion entices the Pike to 

 seize the bait, wliich tlie angler easily perceives by the 

 check. As soon as the Pike lias taken the bait, the 

 fisliernian instanth' jerks back the rod sufficiently to 

 allow the loop to .«lip oft" the pin at tlie end of the rod. 

 The line is now free, and is let out until the Pike stops, 

 when tlie boat is kept stationar}-, either by heading it 

 towards the reeds and holding it fast, or by thrusting 

 tlie butt of the rod into the bottom of the lake. The 



b <i e f g 



Fig. 2(51. a. reel (lelcare); h and f. Imiling-needles of different form (7 (^r S in. Ions:, of wood or brass), in wliicli tlie snood is wedged 



when it is to be passed Ibrougli tlie bait; d — f, gorge-hooks of different form; ij, lower part of the bop at the end of the line and the 



upper enil of (he snood, showing how the knot between theni is tied. 



boat by one man, while another pushes the boat cau- 

 tiously along the edge of a bed of reeds or in some 

 other place supposed to be haunted b}' Pike. The line 

 runs through a loo|) at the end of tlie rod, or is at- 

 tached by a loop {riskct) to a straight pin of wire fixed 

 there, and can be let out or taken in at pleasure by 

 means of a reel {lekare) fastened above the butt of 

 the rod. The snood with the hook at its end is passed 

 through the bait (a Roach, Bleak, Crucian Carp, or 

 other Cyprinoid with bright scales) from the mouth 

 to the end of the tail. The hook is shanked with lead, 

 has one or two prongs (tig. 261, d — f), and should 

 be barbless, the prongs being left to project backwards 

 from the mouth of the bait. The snood is lashed with 

 thread to the tail of the bait, and all the tins are then 

 cut off, to prevent the liait from running foul of the 



fisherman now wtiits a while, at most 1.') — 'iO minutes, 

 for the Pike to pouch, when it again begins to move: 

 and now is the time to haul in both line and fish. 

 Trolling may be practised with success from spring, 

 after the close of the spawning-season, till late in autumn, 

 though it should be observed that (doudy weather and 

 a light breeze are more favourable than calm, tine days, 

 on which the fisherman is seldom rewarded. The fish- 

 ing-place is chosen during summer in grassy and 

 shallow inlets, during autumn off stony shores and in 

 deep water. 



Sprimikrok (fig. 262) is a modification of the 

 preceding kind of fishing, and is conducted most coin- 

 monh' at times when the fisherman suspects that the 

 Pike is off its feed. The place should be the same 

 as in trolling. 



