THE PIKK 



53 



top edge of the revolving barrel. When this cast is made 

 and the bait strikes the water, change the rod from the right 

 hand to the left as quickly and promptly as possible, and 

 wind home again, repeating the process as often as required. 



One of the very best casters that I ever saw throw out a 

 pike bait had his line hanging in coils from his left hand; 

 his right hand grasped the rod some little distance above a 

 brass winch ; his right arm and body acted as a fulcrum in 

 a very peculiar manner, so that he had the most possible 

 leverage and power with his rod at the least expenditure of 

 strength. It was marvellous to see the way those coils of 

 line straightened themselves out one after another and went 

 through the rings of the rod as the bait flew with unerring 

 accuracy to the exact spot required. Nor was it much less 

 marvellous to see the way that line recoiled itself in regular 

 sized folds on his left hand as the bait was spun home. 

 That man's skill could only have been arrived at by long 

 and constant practise, as I never saw him all that afternoon 

 make a false cast or get his line into the least semblance of 

 a tangle. 



Before the introduction of the Nottingham style on the 

 Thames and the southern rivers, the great majority of the 

 pike fishermen on those waters used to cast with the line 

 coiled at the feet, and certainly some of the experts in this 

 style can throw out a wonderful distance. There is no ques- 

 tion that so far as distance is concerned a first-class Thames- 

 style man will beat the Nottingham-style man by at least a 

 dozen yards, using the same weight ; in fact I have seen it 

 demonstrated more than once at those popular bait-casting 

 tournaments held at intervals at the Welsh Harp, Twicken- 

 ham, and Wimbledon, when the very best exponents of both 

 styles have been competitors. In this style the bait is 

 thrown direct from the rod point, only instead of the line 

 being wound on the reel it is laid in loose coils on the 

 ground. Of course the line as it picks itself off the ground 

 travels through the rings on the rod during the flight of the 

 bait, and when it is spun home again it is drawn in by hand 

 and again laid in coils at the angler's feet. But with all due 

 respe.' t to the many excellent Thames men I don't consider 

 the plan half so neat and clean as casting direct from the 



