Angling with the Fly. 325 



way as in the dead-gorge tackle. I have not used 

 the live-gorge bait in any form, but it has un- 

 doubtedly merits of its own. While it possesses all 

 the attractions which a living bait has for the fish, 

 without the doubtful graces of a train of uncovered 

 snap-hooks, it secures for the angler all the advan- 

 tages of the dead-gorge bait. 



Pike do not often rise to a fly. Still they are 

 sometimes seen to take the large green drakes or 

 yellow flies ; and it is not a very uncommon occur- 

 rence for the fisher to hook a pike on his salmon- 

 fly. I do not use the fly as a lure for jack; but 

 those who do, prefer a large one, dressed upon a 

 No. 20 hook. For wings they give it two eyes 

 from a peacock's tail ; a few showy hackles, and a 

 body of coloured pig's wool, generally red, and 

 adorned with broad gold tinsel. Some employ a 

 pair of large hooks, and make the fly as big as a 

 humming-bird, or even a wren, accommodating it, 

 moreover, with a tail, and two glass beads for eyes. 



The best pike-fishing seasons are during May and 

 June, and from the middle of August to the middle 

 of October. In rivers pike do not as a rule " take " 

 well on a hot day in summer, unless when lured by 

 a worm : a blustering day in that season is more 

 favourable for good general sport. The ' Innocent 

 Epicure's' rhyme under this head is not without 

 reason : 



