THE GORGE-HOOK. 303 



either side of the mouth. The tail, if thought requi- 

 site, may be fastened with thread or small twine to 

 the wire arming, in order to keep the bait in shape and 

 allow of its being gorged more easily. 



In angling, either pitch the bait forward by means 

 of the rod?, or heave it from you with the hand. Allow 

 it, if in deep water, to sink well, before commencing 

 to fetch it home. Do this by degrees, impelling it 

 towards the surface, in short urgent movements, and 

 then, just as you catch a glimpse of it, relaxing your 

 pull and thereby occasioning it to drop again towards 

 the bottom. Repeat, unless prevented by weeds or 

 other obstacles, this mode of drawing home the bait, 

 until you bring it to the water's edge. I have already 

 described the manner in which pike generally attack 

 the gorge-bait and the proper way of dealing with 

 them. One instruction, however, I shall repeat, as 

 most essential, with respect to this kind of fishing. 

 Always give the pike time to swallow. If he is dis- 

 posed to take time, allow him five, or even ten minutes. 

 A slight measure of resistance generally, however, pro- 

 vokes him to be more expeditious, and even a prick 

 from one of the projecting barbs of the gorge-hook 

 casually inflicted upon him, has often the same eifect ; 

 but I would, in most cases, be careful how I use much 

 freedom with the rascal, for the boldest fish are some- 

 times shy and distrustful, beyond expectation. When 

 a large pike has fairly swallowed the bait, he soon 

 gives intimation of it, and even a small one makes his 

 chain ring. 



The running tackle for pike I recommend to be 

 made up of three hooks, like the parr-tail tackle on a 

 larger scale, (vide Chapter vn), and dressed upon good 

 gimp traces with a pair of box swivels, the lower one 



