THE PIKE. 1J7 



cheap, and yet very deadly in its use, for when a pike 

 once takes the bait in his mouth, it is very seldom we miss 

 him. The great Attractiveness of a bait on this flight lies in 

 the fact that it does not spin with perfect precision, but 

 ' wobbles ;" it travels through the water in a curious spiral 

 course, and not like the " Clipper," that in spinning looks 

 like a glittering line of silver. Long and careful practice 

 has taught me the fact that in spinning a natural bait for 

 pike the more" it wobbles and the more strange its gyra- 

 tions through the water, the more likely is it to attract the 

 attention of the fish. In an artificial bait, now, the case 

 seems to be different, for I have nearly always had the best 

 success when the artificial used has been the truest in its 

 spin, although I remember on one occasion trying a " Clip- 

 per " well over a place where I knew there was a good fish 

 without any success ; and some half-hour .or so after I got him 

 the first cast with an old wobbling spoon bait indeed one of 

 our very best anglers told me some time ago that out of all 

 the lot of artificials ever made, none of them would lick the 

 old spoon ; but this is an opinion that I cannot agree with ; 

 still I should advise anglers to carry a spoon bait with them 

 when jack fishing. The flight as just noticed is not generally 

 understood by anglers, so I have been very particular in my 

 description of its make, its use, and its peculiarities. All 

 sorts of flights are made that the ingenuity of man can 

 suggest, or his hands form for the destruction of the jack ; 

 but those described will be found entirely sufficient for the 

 angler's purpose. I may just mention two more contrivances, 

 however, that have been brought out for spinning with dead 

 bait ; 'one is Mr. Gregory's u Archimedean " spinning tackle ; 

 it is thrust in the mouth and down the belly of the bait ; 

 the tail requires no bend as the fans at the mouth of the 

 bait causes the spin. The other is a contrivance brought 

 out by the Proprietor of the Fishing Gazette , called the 

 "Fishing Gazette Spinner," and is a capital contrivance 

 with which to spin a dead bait. The triangles of an 

 ordinary flight are simply inserted in the sides of the bait, 

 without bending the tail, and the " Spinner " performs the 

 spinning operation itself, which it does to perfection. 



