THE ANCIENT ART OF TROLLING 



on small fishes, frogs, and (here follows error) f pickerel 

 weed. 7 Two ways of angling for pike are known to 

 him, and these he designates the ledger bait and the 

 walking bait. The ledger bait is to all intents and 

 purposes the night-lining pleasure surreptitiously 

 practised by country folk to the present day. Dace, 

 gudgeon, roach, or a live frog have to be impaled on a 

 hook through the upper lip or back fin. A short line of 

 ten or twelve yards is tied to some stake in the ground 

 or stump of a tree, the line passing over the fork of a 

 stick suspending the hook by a yard of line in the 

 water. At the tug the fork gives way, the line runs 

 out, and the bait is pouched. 



The ' walking bait ' brings us at once to trolling. 

 Best spells it 'trowling,' and adds that 'the word 

 comes from the French trotter^ to move or walk 

 about.' His description of the tackle to be used is 

 substantially accurate, and the necessity of a strong 

 rod, rings, and winch was quite understood in his 

 days. He also recommends a swivel at the end of a 

 line, explains that two single hooks may be tied back 

 to back upon strong gimp, and that the tackle makers 

 sell them made of one piece of wire. The lead was 

 then what it is now, a weight of conical formation and 

 angular at the point. 



In the tackle shops of to-day you may also 



