THE PIKE. lOI 



float will now and again bob clean under, making the inex- 

 perienced think he has got a run ; it was for this purpose of 

 detecting a good run that I recommended the bait to be 

 some eighteen inches from the bottom, and the small float 

 or pilot about a foot from the larger one. As soon as ever 

 both floats disappear under the surface, and sometimes they 

 will follow one another like a flash, the line can be tightened 

 with a slight jerk. Heavy striking is not necessary in this 

 snap fishing, in fact, it is to be condemned ; you see, when 

 fishing in this manner down the streams and eddies you have 

 rod in left hand with finger on edge of reel, and the line, 

 comparatively speaking, tight between the finger and thumb 

 of the right hand. A good run from a pike could very 

 often be felt before it was even seen. If the finger is 

 pressed tight on the edge of reel, and the point of the rod 

 raisecj smartly, the plunge of the hooked fish would be quite 

 sufficient to drive the hooks well home, without risking a 

 broken line by striking heavily at a large pike when mak- 

 ing his first plunge. If the place has a clear bottom and 

 is free from obstructions, it is an easy matter to play the 

 hooked fish, easing the pressure slightly on the edge of reel 

 as he runs, and winding in whenever you have a chance, 

 taking care, however, that the line is always taut; always 

 play a pike as heavily as you can, and don't allow him to 

 run all over the place more than you can possibly help. 

 If it is an awkward place, full of weeds and obstructions, 

 you will have to be guided by the circumstances of the 

 case, as to how you play him, but keep him away from 

 danger at any cost by putting on all the pressure the tackle 

 will bear, and with a little luck he will be yours. In snap- 

 fishing with a float in a lake or very quiet river, the bait 

 cannot be manipulated into the eddies and streams like it 

 is in stream fishing, you can only throw it out and wait for 

 a run, of course, winding in a yard of line every now and 

 again until the bait travels across the open water from the 

 full extent of the cast, unto nearly the rod point, but each 

 place will have to be fished according to its own peculi- 

 arities. It is a good plan sometimes when fishing a lake or 

 other sheet of water that has a lot of reed beds all round 

 the margin, to take a boat, if one is handy, and kick up a 



