AFTERNOON AND EVENING. 39 



very sharp teeth, and always make short work of 

 gut unless the hook fastens in the corner of their 

 mouths. Landing a pike on perch tackle is a 

 matter practically of luck, but the angler may assist 

 Providence to some extent by striking sooner if he 

 suspects the biter to be a pike or "jack," as pike 

 under about 4lb. are often called. 



The new hook is on and baited, and has been in 

 the water some time when the angler notices some- 

 thing odd about the attitude of his float. It is not 

 quite under water, but nearly, somewhat aslant in 

 the stream. He raises his rod, to find that the 

 hook is fast at the bottom. The golden rule for 

 this contingency is to remember that one's hook was 

 moving with the stream when it encountered the 

 obstruction, and that to free it one must first pull 

 in the opposite direction, getting the rod-point as 

 near the water as possible so as to avoid more 

 upward strain than is essential. In some cases, 

 where one would sooner disturb the fishing than 

 lose the tackle, the rod-point may be plunged right 

 down into the water with good results. In this 

 case, however, no pulling is of avail, and, having 

 tried all directions, the novice decides that he must 

 break. He then lengthens line from the reel till he 

 can get hold of the running-line with his hand. 

 Now for the first time he learns how strong his 



