THE PIKE 



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for very clear water, each about one and a half yards long. 

 A good fair sized and well whipped loop is made at each 

 end, one loop being to fasten the lead in, and the other for 

 the reel line to be attached to. About two feet from the 

 bottom loop a swivel was put in, one of those swivels that 

 has an extra eye or ring projecting at right angles from its 

 side. Into the eye the seven or eight inches of gimp on 

 which the hooks were whipped is attached, swinging clear 

 as it were from the main gut line, the swivel allowing the 

 bait to go round and round the trace without twisting him- 

 self up with it. 



If the angler uses gut for the main line of his trace, which^ 

 I may add, is better for very clear water than gimp. I don't 

 know that it matters about using the very expensive salmon 

 gut, very strong barbel legering gut will do, because it is a 

 dead certainty that the same gut that will kill a lo or i2lb. 

 barbel will kill almost any pike we are likely to get hold 

 of nowadays. 



y ^ ^/ 







Fig. i6. Sizes of Gimp. 

 The hooks should always be dressed on fine copper gimp- 

 or twisted flexible wire, it does not matter much which. A 

 short length of very thick and stiff gut is also a very 

 good thing to dress paternoster hooks on. I like 

 a double hook with a small rider brazed at the back, a 

 good deal like the hook of a Jardine snap, at the end of the 

 gimp firmly whipped on, and a little distance above it a 



