PIKE-TACKLE. 33 



the fish pulling one way and the net holding the other ; and 

 even if a separation de corps between the various hooks does 

 not occur there and then, they are likely to be permanently 

 weakened and their efficiency impaired. The disentangling 

 of the hooked pike from the net is also far from a pleasant 

 operation. 



The gaff for pike -fishing should not be so large as that 

 which can be used with advantage for salmon, but the bend of 

 hook which is best in one is best for the other. A gaff of the 

 form shown in the engraving and measuring about two inches 

 across the hook will be probably found on the whole the most 

 convenient size and shape. 



It may not be out of place, perhaps, to repeat here a few 

 suggestions that may help the tyro in learning how to gaff his 

 own or his friend's fish. There is a 'high art,' of course, 

 attainable in gaffing as in everything else, and it may even be 

 said that special qualities, physical and mental, are required to 

 make a really first-rate gaffer. Steady nerves and a lightning- 

 like rapidity of decision are amongst the qualities most essential. 

 Nor must the capacity for rapid decision be divorced from its 

 proper complement, rapidity of action. The gaffer should be- 

 ware of letting the ' I dare not ' wait upon ' I would.' He must 

 be ever ready, in fact, to perceive the auspicious moment, and to 

 give instantaneous effect to the perception. The process reminds 

 one of the sort of sudden encounter described as a ' word and 

 a blow,' except that a blow is about the last thing to be resorted 

 to by a successful gaffer ; and that brings me to the threatened 

 hints for beginners, by attending to which they will possibly 

 save the loss of many good fish. 



1. Never thrust your gaff forward until you are prepared 

 to strike, and never make any half-attempts. These feints 

 generally scare the fish, and not unfrequently cut the line. 



2. Under ordinary circumstances do not attempt to gaff a 

 pike that is more than a foot below the surface, or until he is 

 pretty fairly spent. The best position in which to gaff a fish is 

 when he is 'broadside on.' 



II. D 



