136 THE PIKE 



office, so we called there on our way to the water, and 

 I bought a flight consisting of three huge triangles 

 and a lip-hook on enormously coarse gimp, and a 

 spinning trace quite strong enough for shark fishing. 

 The lead, I remember, was close to the lip-hook. 



When we reached the water we found that the 

 bailiff had no proper spinning baits, only some rather 

 large roach. What my brother did I hardly remember ; 

 I know he caught a few good fish. But the first time 

 a pike seized my wobbling roach, the little bamboo 

 rod broke in the middle. Laying the broken ends 

 one over the other, I bound them up with a piece of 

 line and made a fresh start. Then my line began to 

 kink, for the clumsy swivels on the trace worked 

 badly, and the lead was not hung below the level of 

 the line, as it ought to have been. This caused me 

 to cast from the reel a thing I had never heard of in 

 those days, though doubtless it was even then well 

 known to the Trent anglers and very bungling casts 

 I made. 



At that time the river swarmed with fish, and we 

 found them well on the feed. But it was no easy 

 matter for me to catch them, for my huge hooks 

 required an enormously powerful strike to get any of 

 them in over the barb, while my rod was so light 

 that if I struck hard it was certain to smash again. 



