THE PIKE. 77 



months, and look as fresh and bright as when first put in ; 

 but the angler must remember if he wants them to last for 

 a long time that he must cork and seal them down secure 

 and air-tight if he uses an ordinary wide-necked bottle. A 

 lever-stoppered bottle with a band of expanding indiarubber 

 round the stopper is, however, far the best vessel to employ. 

 I might also add that the small fish that are wanted for 

 preservation, such as sprats, bleak, dace, minnows, stone 

 loach, very small roach, and the tail-end of eels should be 

 put in the preservative when perfectly fresh ; on no account 

 should stale ones be used; reject all that are tainted in 

 the slightest, they must be perfectly fresh. I might also 

 add that formalin is sold by The Formalin Co., Ltd.," lo, 

 St. Mary's-at-Hill, London, E.G., at 2s. 6d. per bottle; but 

 most of the tackle dealers now sell the preserved baits in 

 lever-stoppered bottles at ninepence to a shilling per bottle. 

 In closing this chapter on spinning, I find on looking 

 over my notes that I forgot to mention a very cheap and 

 •effective spinning lead that some of my friends on the 

 Trent used years ago. It was simply a piece of sheet lead 

 cut in an oval shape, about one and a half inches long, 

 three-quarters of an inch wide, and one-sixteenth or so of an 

 inch thick. This lead is bent lengthways down the centre, 

 lapped across the trace in its proper place, and pinched 

 tight. This lead can very easily be taken off or put on the 

 line anywhere where wanted, and by being cut in an oval 

 shape and bent in the centre hangs below the line and' 

 forms a wonderfully effective drop-lead for spinning. For 

 all other spinning tackles and contrivances for working a 

 dead bait, I must refer the reader to tackle dealers' illus- 

 trated catalogues. I have given what I consider to be the 

 best general principles to adopt. 



