CHAPTER TV. 



DEAD-BAIT FISHING. 



Modern Spinning Flights — Traces — How to Prevent KinTcing — 

 Thames Style of Spinning — Trent Style of Spinning — 

 Preserved Baits — Eel -tail — Artificial Spinning Baits. 



^ , '^^^f^^ _ ^^ ^^ j iE AD-BAITS, when used in pike-fishing, are 

 ^ P^^^vX^cS either arranged so that they spin when 

 drawn through the water, or are placed 

 on troUing-tackle, in which case they do 

 not spin. Spinning baits are either cast 

 out some distance, and drawn back through 

 the water to the angler, or are trailed at 

 the back of a boat. This trailing is often 

 called trolling in Scotland and Ireland, a misnomer which has 

 doubtless caused some little confusion in the minds of anglers. 

 Trolling proper is the use of a dead-bait which does not spin, 

 and is worked with a sink-and-draw motion in the water. I 

 propose now to describe spinning for pike, leaving the subject 

 of trolling for the following chapter. 



Spinning Flights are of two kinds — those which cause 

 the bait to spin by curving its tail, and those which spin the 

 bait by means of some simple mechanical contrivance. Of the 

 first kind, the Thames spinning flights are most commonly used, 

 and though, if put on by a skilful hand, they give the bait a 

 brilliant spin, they hook badly, and the percentage of fish secured 

 to the number of runs is small. They consist of three or four 

 triangles, about lin. apart, above which is a movable lip-hook. 



