SPINNING. 191 
employed whole or in part only. A whole Eel 8 or 9 
inches long makes a capital bait, and it can be used on 
the tackle shown in figure 4 of plate. Owing, how- 
ever, to the giving way of the lips after a few runs, the 
whole Eel is a less convenient bait than the tail part 
only, out of which an artificial head can be formed that 
never wears out. Indeed I have fished with a bait so 
made for two days consecutively, taking a good many 
fish on both, and the bait was still fit for work at the 
end. This is owing to the extraordinary toughness of the 
Eel skin, on which the teeth of the Pike make little or 
no impression. 
The eel-tail bait and tackle when used for Pike spin- 
ning is, with two exceptions, dressed and baited exactly 
in the same manner as that described for spinning for 
Salmon (p. 167). The exceptions are: first, that the bait 
and hook are commonly about double the size; and 
secondly, that this greater size renders the addition of a 
flying triangle necessary to insure hooking a fish run. 
The best sized eel for making the bait is from I1 to 14 
inches in length, but one a little longer or shorter will 
serve the purpose. For a large sized bait, about 7 inches 
(when the bait is complete) is the best length. The 
hook used should be a No. 20 of my pattern (vide p. 
10), which is 34 inches long in the shank, or one-half 
the length of the bait. In smaller baits somewhat 
smaller hooks should be used—‘che same proportion be- 
tween the length of the hook and bait being always pre- 
