194 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 
Another way of making the Eel-bait is to cut out from 
just below the neck of the Eel 3 or 4 inches of the 
thickest part of the body, the head and tail being then 
sewn together with strong silk or holland thread. This 
bait can be used on the same flight as the whole eel ; 
but it does not wear nearly so long asthe tail bait above 
mentioned. 
When fresh-water bait cannot be procured, either of 
the following sea-fish can be used—when quite fresh—as 
substitutes :—Basse, Grey Mullet, Herring, Sprat, and 
large Whitebait. 
ARTIFICIAL BAITS. 
So far as my experience goes, artificial baits—and I 
have tried not a few—are entirely inferior to natural 
baits for Pike fishing: they should only be used when 
the latter cannot be obtained. The “spoon-bait” was 
tolerably killing when it first came out, but it seems to 
have gradually lost its attractiveness, at any rate on 
waters where it has been much used, and is now generally 
inferior even to the ordinary run of artificial baits. 
WHEN, AND WHERE TO SPIN. 
In some respects the discussion of the first part of this 
subject may be considered unnecessary, as, practically, 
men who have once taken to spinning rarely care much for 
any other method of Pike fishing, and with slight excep- 
tions the spinning bait may be used with advantage from 
