iOS THE TROLLER S GUIDE. 



CHAP. VII. 



Baits for Trolling or Jack-fishing. 



The Fish which Jack and Pike chiefly feed on, are 

 Gudgeons, Roach, Dace, Bleak, Minnows, and small 

 Trout, and Chub ; they will certainly take any other 

 sort of Fish, Tench excepted ; (see the reason for this 

 opinion, in the observation on Jack, &c. in Chap. X.) 

 and they will even feed on their own species, and, occa- 

 sionally, attack the Perch, notwithstanding its formida- 

 ble back fin. But when the Angler can get a sufficient 

 number of Gudgeons, Roach, or Dace, of a proper size, 

 either alive or very fresh, to bait his hooks with, he 

 may rest assured that he possesses the best baits for trol - 

 ling or Jack-fishing that the waters produce. Among ; 

 those three choice baits, the Gudgeon is the most \ 

 useful, either for trolling with the gorge-hook, or in 

 live-bait fishing ; for, in trolling, the Gudgeon spins 

 better in the water, from the rotundity of its shape, 

 than Roach or Dace, and it is also thicker in its body, 

 and, therefore, the Jack or Pike, when they strike at it, 

 are not so likely to feel the lead in its belly or throat j 

 the Gudgeon is also a very clean-feeding Fish, and is 

 always so sweet, or well-flavoured, that the experien- 

 ced Angler knows when Jack or Pike strike a Gud- 

 geon ; they less seldom blow it out of their mouths again 

 instead of pouching it, than any other bait. The same 

 reason holds in respect to live-bait fishing ; moreover. 



