22 THE ART OF FISHING. 



CHAPTER VI. 



OF THE BAIT TO BE USED IN SNAPPING OB TROLLING OF THE 

 MERCILESS METHOD ADOPTED BT SOME FISHERMEN IN USING LIVE 



BAITS OF THE SNAP-HOOK, HOW TO BE MADE, AND BAITED, AND 



USED FISH TO BE KILLED IMMEDIATELY ON BEING TAKEN, AND 



"WHY HOW TO TREAT YOUR FISH WHEN YOU HAVE HOOKED 



HIM AT SNAP. 



YOUR bait, either to troll or snap with, should be 

 a small one ; I should say, never larger than a 

 good-sized gudgeon. KILL THE BAIT BEFORE YOU 

 USE IT.* 



I am now entering on the merciful mode of 

 angling ; and to draw particular attention to this 

 part of the work, I give the first merciful direc- 

 tion in capital letters. " Yes but, ah ! " says 

 one, " there is nothing like a live bait." This 

 I deny, and would not fear, were I in the habit 

 of betting, to risk a considerable sum of money 

 that I would with a snap hook, properly baited 



* Although small baits are recommended as the most killing, 

 yet it does not follow that large ones never answer. I have 

 known an instance of one pike seizing another, somewhat of its 

 own size, and both of them having been found dead in the river 

 one choked for his greediness, and the other suffocated in the 

 throat of his enemy. 



