PATERNOSTER VERSUS SPINNING TACKLE. 19 



Supposing that tlie stream is only moderately weedy, then, 

 where the weeds are some distance below the surface, we can 

 either spin or float a live-bait over them ; and either of these 

 methods may be used alongside reed-beds. For the average 

 river in summer there is, on the whole, no tackle so useful as 

 the paternoster, for it can be dropped into any hole or comer 

 among weed and reed beds, where no other tackle, except a 

 trolling-bait, can be used. But where a long stretch of sunken 

 weed has to be fished, and the water is so bright that the angler 

 must keep far away from his bait, then I think that float or 

 spinning tackle is better, as, if the paternoster is cast out any 

 distance among weeds, it becomes entangled with them. "When 

 the bottom is clear, the paternoster can be cast 40yds. or more 

 away; but when it is weedy, the angler has to see where he 

 drops it in. 



With regard to spinning, which is certainly the most artistic 

 method of taking pike, I should be guided in a great measure by 

 the extent of water I had to fish, for, if my water was limited in 

 extent, it would be folly to adopt a method by which every part 

 of it could be covered in an hour. In a small sheet of water it 

 would be much better to live-bait than to spin. Then, again, on 

 calm days spinning is very little use, as the fish see too clearly 

 through the deception. On such days nothing beats the 

 paternoster. 



In winter, when the water is free from weeds, the angler 

 can follow almost any method he fancies ; but for very deep 

 water he will find it better to use the paternoster, leger, or 

 trolling-bait, rather than float or spinning tackle. 



Suppose, now, we are fishing a small river, such as the Loddon, 

 in summer, and come to a pool surrounded by reeds. What 

 should be done ? It is too small to spin, for two casts of the 

 spinning bait would scare every jack in it, and the bait would be 

 drawn home and out almost before a pike had time to seize it. 

 To use float- tackle would not be much better, for a gentle 

 stream runs through the pool, which would carry our bait into 

 the reeds within a couple of minutes of its going into the water 

 (if we were in a boat at the top end of the pool we might, of 

 course, check the float ; but being on the bank, we cannot do 



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