DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 119 



man's dramatic recital of our reception at the work- 

 house. 



Live-baiting for pike is quite a secondary pleasure 

 to spinning for them, but there is a variety of 

 reasons why a live bait is at times preferred, even 

 by those who are fully cognisant of this fact. 



In lakes and ponds the largest pike frequent 

 deeper water, are more deliberate in their move- 

 ments and require much more coaxing than the 

 smaller ones, so the bait has to be of a larger size 

 and move slowly to give time for the slow rising of 

 a big fish. 



In rivers where trout are prized and the pike are 

 regarded as vermin your sportsmanlike ideas are 

 dulled by the dominating wish to get the voracious 

 brutes out, and the surest method is then adopted ; 

 you lay siege to them, in the pools that they 

 frequent, with live baits that will go in search of 

 them with such varied movements that even a trout- 

 full fish grows curious to know what such pro- 

 ceedings mean, and at last curiosity grows too 

 strong and, Eve-like, he takes a taste and pays the 

 penalty. 



The delight of roaming and casting a spinning 

 lure has so many attractions in the change of 

 scenery, and presents such varied opportunities for 

 the display of skill, that the followers of this method 

 are loth to forego it even for the chance of bigger 

 fish that are more likely to fall victims to live-bait 

 fishing. 



When the fish has seized a spinning lure it 

 should be remembered that the bait is being drawn 

 through the water at the time of its seizure by the 

 pike and that a resistance to his will is thus instantly 



