3 1 4 Pike-Fishing. 



When the minnow is employed as a live-bait, the 

 tackle consists of a triangle of No. 8 hooks at the 

 end of the gimp. A minnow is fixed on each by 

 passing the hook through the under lip from the 

 inside. Should a pike be on the hunt in the 

 neighbourhood of this lure, the trio of competitors 

 for his attention will all be equally likely to be 

 honoured with it; for to hungry Jack a whole 

 bushel of minnows would scarcely suffice for a 

 meal. The baits being light, the line must not be 

 so heavily weighted as in the previous cases. Live 

 trout and minnow baits meet with most success 

 after a flood, when the water is in the favourite 

 condition between the black and the clear. A 

 good breeze is a desideratum in this, as indeed it 

 is in all kinds of pike-fishing, except, perhaps, when 

 the worm is used. 



These are not the only lures used in live-baiting. 

 Falstaff, in " King Henry IV.," has it that " a young 

 dace may be a bait for an old pike ; " and gudgeon 

 and roach may do equally well, whether the pike 

 be old or young. Mice, water-rats, and a variety 

 of creatures, biped and quadruped, may all be taken 

 at times as Jack's fancy directs, though fish-baits 

 are to be preferred. But I pass from these to the 

 worm. 



A large hook, No. 16, is all that is necessary in 

 the way of tackle. Eemeinbering for whom the 



