CHAPTER XI. 



FIG. 62. DOUBLE 

 BRAZED HOOK. 



TACKLE FOR LIVE BAITING. 



FIRST, as to live baiting for pike. That style which most nearly 

 approximates to gorge fishing, but which, in my opinion, is not 

 to be compared to it, as a means of real sport, termed " live gorge 

 baiting," consists of a double hook, tied on gimp 

 of the annexed (Fig. 62), or an analagous 

 pattern. 



The loop of the gimp to which such a hook as 

 this is tied is placed in the loop of the baiting 

 needle, and the point of the latter is entered just 

 under the skin of the dace, about a quarter of an 

 inch nearer the tail than the termination of the 

 gill cover in the same line. It is brought out 

 nearer the dorsal fin than the lateral line, about half an inch 

 from point of insertion. The hook is then drawn tight in the 

 wound, and of course the hook, in such case, lies almost on the 

 fish. About ten minutes is allowed for a medium sized dace to be 

 pouched. 



A baiting needle being required for both this process and that 

 of baiting the gorge bait proper, I think this is an opportune 

 moment for giving an illustration of the best sort I know 

 (Fig. 63). It ought to be made of brass, not steel, as the 

 latter is so liable to corrode, and brass is not. 



Now I utterly and entirely object to the cruelty and general 

 unsportsmanlike style of this live gorge fishing. I am not going 

 to say I have never fished in this way, but I have seen the error 

 of my youth, and, for one, I will never again, unless under very 

 extreme circumstances, fish with a bait tortured as described. FIG. 68. 

 There can be no doubt that exquisite pain is suffered by a dace NEEDLE. 



