52 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



The result was, or rather is, that for the last five years I 

 have suffered a periodical martyrdom wliich for the time being 

 makes river and coverside alike out of the question. Indeed, 

 in giving this advice to my brother fishermen I do so with a 

 full connaissance de cause, as I write these lines in the train 

 which is bringing me back, for this reason alone, and much 

 against my will, from a good day's cover shooting to medical 

 rubbers, Turkish baths, and similar consolations for the afflicted ! 

 . . . Let me once more then, ' as one who knows,' sum up the 

 foregoing cautions : Flee damp legs, cultivate not promiscuous 

 duckings, eschew watercourses without waders, and wear flannel 

 next your skin. 



But to return from this digression suggested by our efforts 

 to catch bait with that very convenient (if it be not rotten) im- 

 plement, a sweep net : 



For minnow-catching the ordinary form of net is circular, 

 from a foot and three-quarters to two feet or so in diameter. 

 It is suspended from a pole by strings, like the parachute of a 

 balloon, and, being decorated with a few bits of red wool, or 

 cloth, to excite curiosity or avidity, it is lowered gently into the 

 middle of a shoal, and as soon as the minnows are seen over it in 

 sufficient numbers, the net is swiftly and strongly raised to the 

 surface, usually bringing with it a proportion of the intending 

 diners or investigators. 



If from any cause the spinner cannot carry his baits with 

 him alive, the best plan is to wrap them up, immediately after 

 being killed as before described, in the folds of a soft damp 

 cloth a housemaid's duster answers the purpose very well 

 which should be remoistened whenever it shows symptoms of 

 dryness. I would recommend this method, in preference to 

 the ' dry bran system ' advocated by many authorities, as being 

 both more convenient and maintaining better the elasticity and 

 brightness of the baits. Salt or brine is fatal, as the fish 

 rapidly become flaccid and lose every attractive quality which 

 it is desirable that they should possess. 



