HINTS ON PLOAT-PISHING. 45 



to have a float just so large that the bait cannot pull it 

 under; but the more experienced angler will use a smaller 

 float, and judge from the movement of the auxiliary floats — 

 if I may so term them — whether a pike has hold of the bait 

 or not. 



It should be carefully borne in mind that, if the float is put 

 too deep, and the bait is all but on the bottom, a pike cannot 

 pull the float under unless he dashes off at great speed, 

 which he usually does not do. Under these circumstances, 

 several runs may be had without the inexperienced angler 

 being any the wiser. 



In summer I have seen very good results from using a quill 

 float, such as would be suitable for chub-fishing, the other 

 tackle being, of course, proportionately fine, and the bait very 

 small — a year-old dace or chub. In the hot months, when the 

 water is clear, and there is no breeze or rain to ruffle the surface, 

 the ordinary pike float-tackle does not, as a rule, account for 

 many fish. Of course, this remark does not apply to those 

 exceptional streams where pike are many and anglers few ; but 

 it does apply with great force to the Thames and other 

 clear and over-fished rivers. 



The hooks for float-fishing are of three kinds — snap-hooks, 

 gorge-hooks, and semi-gorge hooks. The former are so arranged 

 that the pike can be struck immediately he takes the bait; 

 while with the last-mentioned he is allowed to gorge the bait, 

 and gets hooked in his throat or stomach. Gorge-hooks, I 

 need hardly say, are never used by humane anglers. As pike 

 frequently refuse to gorge the bait after they have seized it, 

 gorge-tackle is not so certain as might otherwise be imagined. 

 The semi-gorge tackle is simply a triangle in the back fin. 

 The pike, after taking the bait, is allowed about three minutes 

 to turn it, and get the triangle well in his mouth, when he is 

 struck. 



It was my ambition, some years ago, to produce a good 

 arrangement of snap-hooks, and after many experiments, I 

 made up a tackle similar to that shown in Fig. 22. At the time 

 I considered it perfection. It was an improvement on an older 

 tackle known as the " saddle-back." In the tackle as I then made 



