DEEP OR SHALLOW SPINNING. 105 



shift it at all and to use a lighter one ; in such cases I 

 merely use a bit of brass or copper wire through the lead, 

 and leaving half an inch or so protruding at either end, 

 lap the ends round any convenient spot in the trace. With 

 these leads at least two swivels should be between the lead 

 and the hooks, as all the twist is in that part of the trace. 

 According to the depth or swiftness of the water or stream 

 to be fished, so should the weight of the lead be ; and this 

 is a point to which considerable attention should be paid, 

 as it is sometimes necessary to fish deep and sometimes to 

 fish shallow. Of the two, I prefer to fish deep, as the less 

 distance a pike has to come after the bait the better, for 

 pike will not always come to the top of the water after the 

 bait, even if they see it ; and when they do come, they will 

 see the deception so much more easily that, if they are not 

 tolerably hungry, they will often refuse the bait. This is 

 especially the case with good fish. Many a time have I, 

 when fishing rather high, seen a good ten or a dozen- 

 pounder come up with a dash at the bait and after follow- 

 ing it for a yard or two, turn tail and leave it, when, pro- 

 bably, had I been fishing deep, he would just have put his 

 nose out of the weed and snapped my bait. But there is a 

 great advantage in fishing high when the fish are hungry. 

 You cover so much more ground that is to say, the fish 

 can see the bait so much farther off. If the angler will 

 glance at the diagram in Plate VI. p. 130, he will see what I 

 mean. A is one spinning bait fished high, B is another 

 fished low. Now, pike at C and D, and all within that 

 range, will easily see A, whereas B will scarcely be seen 

 farther off than E and F. Still, if the fish are running shyjy, 

 two trolls or throws in the position of B are preferable to 

 one at A. Of course, if the fish are well on the feed, and 

 are ranging for food, it will matter little whether the 

 angler fishes high or low, as within any reasonable distance 

 his bait will be seen laterally, and probably run at. 



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