110 



THE PIKE. 



tion below). It consists of two hooks, rather rank 

 in the bends, having long shanks that are brazed 

 together, and terminating in an eye, with lead 

 moulded on to the shanks to weight the tackle. The 

 trace, either of gimp or of twisted gut, with the last 

 nine or ten inches of gimp, should be four feet 

 long, having at its end a small buckle-swivel, or 

 a swivel with a turned-down hook, which is placed 

 - in the eye of the gorge-tackle. 



V The loop at the top of the 



ten inches of gimp is attached 

 +/M- to a baiting needle ; the needle 



is passed in at the bait's mouth 

 and brought out exactly in the 

 middle of the roots of its tail, 

 which has been previously cut 

 neatly off. Then draw the gimp 

 through the bait and push the lead 

 into its body, leaving the hooks 

 lying one on each side of the bait's 

 mouth. Pull the gimp tight, punc- 

 ture the flesh by the tail from side 

 to side, draw the gimp through 

 the hole with the baiting needle; 

 and in the loop thus made pass the 

 end of the gimp, draw tight, and 

 the half-knot thus formed will not slip, but can be 

 instantly undone, when it is necessary to put on 

 another bait. These tackles are much better than 

 the older kind, which have the lead too far down 

 towards the bends of the hooks, and bulge the 

 cheeks and gill-covers of the bait, especially if it 

 is a gudgeon, so that weeds may catch and 

 tear them ; also the long stiff twisted-wire shanks 

 are objectionable, as they make the bait too 



PENNELL'S GORGE 

 BAIT TACKLE. 



