58 ANGLING FOR PIKE. 



on the side of the bait, near the dorsal fin. If fixed low down 

 on the side it is perpetually catching on the bottom. 



After what I have written on paternostering, I need say- 

 little concerning the use of the leger. Cast out the tackle 

 where you expect pike to be, keep a taut line, and on feeling 

 a bite act exactly as you would if fishing with a paternoster. 



Flaying and Landing the pike in a satisfactory manner 

 are only to be learned through experience, but there are one or 

 two useful hints worth mentioning. After the fish is hooked, 

 as a rule, keep the rod as much as possible at an angle of 

 about 45deg. Have an eye to any weeds, piles, roots, and such- 

 like, and keep your fish as far away from them as you are able. 

 If the fish becomes weeded, or seems likely to attain that 

 undesirable condition, get below him, keep the line as tight 

 as you dare, and pull down stream. When the pike comes to 

 the surface, opens his mouth, and shakes his head, as he 

 probably will do if you hold him too hard, lower the point 

 of the rod to the surface of the water, and put a less heavy 

 strain on the fish. Always play him as much as possible on 

 the reel, checking him in his runs by placing a finger on 

 the rim of the reel (unless the mechanical check in the reel 

 is a strong one, and as much as the tackle will bear), and 

 wind him in when you are able to. If he leaps, slacken the 

 line until he is in the water again. Beware of his getting 

 round the punt-pole, if one is in the water. Beware of nails 

 on the bottom of the boat, especially if it is an Irish craft. 

 When the fish yields to you, get him near you, and gaff 

 him. I usually gaff over the back of the fish, and not in 

 the belly. Get the gaff in position, and then, with a sharp 

 pull, send it in, and lift the fish out without a moment's 

 delay. Gaff near the tail rather than the shoulder or 

 middle, especially if the fish is large, for a pike gaffed in the 

 tail is helpless, and can only wag his head slowly, while if 

 gaffed anywhere else he can splash about with his tail, and 

 perhaps get off, or break the gaff. 



