THE PIKE, JACK, OR LUCE. 157 



should be a stiffer one than that used for spinning, and I always throw- 

 off one of Wells' spring winches, using a fine undressed silk plait line. 

 I like a trace with one swivel, and the following is my method of 

 baiting : After selecting a bait to suit the size of the gorge hook, I 

 pass the bait on in the usual manner, turning the hooks up over the eyes 

 (the hooks should not be too " rank "), and, after cutting off one pectoral 

 and one anal fin, instead of tying the tail with thread, the needle is 

 passed through the hard vertebra of the tail, and a sort of half knot made 

 with the gimp. This is Mr. Pennell's style, and an exceedingly ingenious 

 one it is, and will be hereafter shown. The bait cannot curl up, and 

 if the tail be cut off close no resistance is offered to its passage 

 through the weeds. In making the bait it is necessary to bear in 

 mind that the jack always, or nearly so, seizes it when it is being 

 drawn up through the water, not as it " shoots headlong through the 

 blue abyss;" and therefore it is advisable to draw in slowly and 

 carefully, with as much variety in movement as possible. Give the 

 fish from five to ten minutes for pouching, and then draw in do not 

 strike and the pike is yours. In saying " do not strike " I am 

 aware I am differing from many standard authorities on the subject, 

 but this is the result of a physical fact, and is not a matter of opinion. 

 Immediately the fish has pouched your bait the maw closes tightly round 

 it, and therefore the hooks, by the weight alone of the fish, are firmly 

 embedded in the surrounding membrane. To strike is to run the risk 

 of tearing out maw, hooks, and all, which I have repeatedly done in 

 the days of my angling apprenticeship. 



Of late years, throwing from the reel has been greatly in favour in 

 pike fishing, and as I consider it a cleanly and exceedingly convenient 

 method of getting out a bait of whatever character, a few words about 

 it may here prove acceptable. 



The fine and far off system of Nottingham fishing, in which a running 

 line and tackle generally adapted for fishing at a long distance from the 

 bait was used, brought into use wooden wheels of large drum, which, 

 because of the desirability of rapid manipulation and celerity, gradually 

 but surely developed into quite a work of art, which fulfils its purpose 

 almost to perfection. As the frequent lightness and use of the undressed 

 line rendered the ordinary drawing of it from the reel impossible for the 

 cast, the movable axis of the wheel and its fittings were made so light 

 as to run sufficiently rapidly to allow of a cast with moderate weight- 

 connected equal in extent to these by the ordinary method. All the angler 

 has to do now, therefore, is to use an undressed line, and defying wind, 

 rain, frost, and other obstructions in the shape of awkward feet and legs, 

 bits of wood, branches, &c., which encumber one usually when throwing 



