94 



THE PIKE. 



The trace for live-baiting differs slightly from the one 

 recommended for spinning, although the latter will do very- 

 well at a pinch. The one most generally in use, however, 

 is a yard length of gimp, or strong salmon gut, with a loop' 

 on one end and a No. 4 or 5 buckle swivel on the other. 

 Just above the swivel, threaded on the gimp, is a barrel lead 

 about one and a haJf or two inches long, and about as thick 

 as a fair sized swan quill. The lead and swivel should be 

 about i4in. from the bait. The main object of the lead is 

 not so much cocking the float, as it is keeping the bait down 

 and preventing it from rising to the surface. In the trace 

 for spinning there are at least two swivels and a drop or 

 hanging lead ; in a live-bait trace the buckle swivel fixed at 

 the end is ample, and the lead need only be a plain one, 

 with a hole lengthways down the centre, so that it can be 

 threaded on the gimp or gut. 



Snap tackles are now made in almost an endless variety,, 

 each one of them claiming to be better than any of the 

 others, the object of the snap tackle being, as its name 

 suggests, snapping or striking the pike directly after he seizes 

 the bait. The best known and the most widely used tackle 

 at the present day is the old-fashioned Jardine snap, which 

 is simply two treble hooks, only one hook that forms each 

 treble is smaller tha.n the other two, fixed a certain distance 

 from each other to suit the size of bait used. Indeed, it is 

 a general plan now to have one of the trebles made with 

 eyes so that it can be shifted closer to the other or further 

 apart to suit the size of bait used. This old tackle holds its 



Fig. 12. The Jardine Snap. 



own among the many that have since been introduced to 

 supersede it ; in fact, in my opinion, none of them are any 

 better, and some of them decidedly not so good. The usual 

 Jardine snap that is generally sold by tackle dealers, has the 



