304 PIKE AND PIKE-FISHING. 



fastened about eighteen inches above the hooks, and 

 the uppermost at or near the junction of the casting 

 and reel lines. Bait with a small trout or parr, and 

 according to the directions already given in my chap- 

 ter on minnow and parr-tail fishing, when treating of 

 the spinning lure. Should the trout be too large to 

 be employed entire, cut it as there instructed into two 

 parts, using the lower one divested of its fins, tail-fore- 

 most, and the remaining or head portion, as the shape 

 suggests. See that the bait spins freely, and let the 

 striking of the fish command your particular attention. 

 Never attempt this operation until he has fairly turned 

 with the lure betwixt his jaws, and you actually feel 

 his weight ; then, knowing the strength of your tackle, 

 drive the barbed hooks smartly across his mouth, and 

 he is fastened to your heart's content. 



In loch trolling from a boat, it is common, where 

 pike are plentiful, to crowd the tackle with hooks. The 

 advantage of this practice is very doubtful. Certainly, 

 it does not in the slightest degree assist or improve the 

 spinning, and as to rendering the getting hold of the 

 fish more certain, experience has led me to believe that 

 the parr-tail running-tackle, already recommended, is, 

 if properly managed, as sufficiently effective as any 

 other combination of hooks in use. 



It may be from prejudice, but I must confess that, 

 with regard to the form and making up of pike and 

 trolling tackles, commonly used by English anglers, 

 they appear to me to be, many of them, shop con- 

 trivances, mere fancy articles made to please the eye of 

 the purchaser. In several cases also, they are the 

 produce of a whim or speculative notion, on the part of 

 some angler who, no doubt, can expatiate largely on 

 the virtues and marvellous facilities of his invention, 



