SNAP-BAITS. 143 



lengths of the pieces, when looped, should be ex- 

 actly equal, and each loop should be fastened in the 

 hook of your swivel attached to your gut foot-line. 

 One of the hooks is to be inserted in the back of the 

 fish just before the dorsal fin, the other hook just 

 behind it. The hooks are to point different ways ; 

 and if they are properly inserted, and their gut links 

 of equal length, the fish will hang in easy and just 

 balance, and there will be no drag either way to 

 prevent it from swimming freely. A live-bait so 

 hooked cannot escape by its own struggles, and 

 neither pike, trout, nor perch can snap it off with 

 impunity. 



SNAP-BAITS, These hooks and baits are mostly 

 used at seasons when pike do not feed with suffi- 

 cient voracity to pouch their baits promptly. 

 Their merit lies in allowing the tr oiler to strike 

 quickly, before the fastidious fish, suspecting 

 something wrong, has time to eject the bait from 

 his mouth. The rod used must be short and stiff, 

 to enable you to strike promptly and firmly; and 

 I know of no rod more suitable than that which 

 is called the Thames punt barbel rod. Snap-baits 

 are two-fold one which does not spring when 

 you strike a fish, and the other which does. I 

 will give you representations of each, taken from 

 Mr. Elaine's work. The first is called the live- 

 bait snap, figured thus : 



