ON SNAP FISHING. 73 



the Snap are of the largest and strongest kind used in 

 fresh water fishing. But this hurried and unsportsman- 

 like way of taking fish, can only please those who value 

 the game, more than the sport afforded by killing a Jack 

 or Pike with tackle, which gives the fish a chance of 

 escaping, and excites the angler's skill and patience, 

 mixed with a certain pleasing anxiety, and the reward of 

 his hopes. Neither has the snap fisher so good a chance 

 of success, unless he angles in a pond or piece of water 

 where the Jack or Pike are very numerous, or half-starved, 

 and will hazard their lives for almost any thing that comes 

 in the way, but in rivers where they are well fed, worth 

 killing, and rather scarce, the coarse snap tackle, large 

 hooks, &c. generally alarm them ; on the whole, I think it is 

 two to one against the snap in most rivers ; and if there 

 are many weeds in the water, the large hooks of the snap, 

 by standing rank, are continually getting foul, damaging 

 the bait, and causing much trouble and loss of time. 



Two-Handed or Cross Fishing. 



In the North of England, two-handed or cross fishing is 

 practised for Salmon, Trout, and also for Jack and Pike ; 

 but this method of fishing is but little practised elsewhere, 

 indeed it can hardly be called fair fishing, and as such, it 

 is generally forbid by the proprietors of private waters, 

 who seldom deny a sportsman a day's angling, under fair 



