THE PIKE. 119 



reel, and then the cast is made as already indicated. I find 

 this is the best plan to hold the rod, especially if the rod is a 

 heavy one and the bait of the largest size. In the picture on the 

 cover of the first edition of this work the angler is making a 

 left-handed cast, with the left hand above the reel and the 

 right below it, and is regulating, or stopping, the reel with 

 the forefinger at the bottom edge of the reel instead of the 

 top as in the right-handed cast. (I might say that the picture 

 as just noticed would have been better if it represented the 

 rod as being a little longer.) 



When this left-handed cast is about to be made the rod 

 point is in the opposite direction to what it is for a right- 

 hand one, i.e. on your right hand for a right-handed throw, 

 and on your left hand for the left. However, the angler 

 will find it to his advantage to learn both styles, for some- 

 times he may drop across a place that cannot be fished by a 

 right-handed cast. "When you have thrown your bait, you 

 wind up the line on the reel, and the bait comes spinning 

 and glittering towards you like a thing of life, or more 

 properly like a partly disabled fish trying to escape. Wind 

 the bait as near to you as you can, lift it out of the water 

 and repeat the cast ; never let the bait sink to the bottom, or 

 the hooks may catch hold of some obstruction, and give you 

 a lot of trouble to disengage them. Try all sorts of dodges 

 also during spinning ; spin slowly, spin quickly, let the bait 

 spin near the surface, or down deeper in miclwater, or jerk 

 it a little with the rod point ; act, in fact, all sorts of dodges. 



When you know there is a jack about, search all the 

 water within reach of the cast well, don't let a yard of water 

 go unfished. When a jack takes the bait, and he is hungry, 

 he generally takes care that it shall not be a doubtful matter. 

 Hit him rather smartly, as the hooks having rank barbs, 

 would fail to penetrate the hard mouth of the pike if you 

 did not strike well home. Some anglers, when they feel a 

 fish, give him a few seconds' grace. This is not absolutely 

 necessary, as a pike when he means to take a bait, seldom 

 misses his target, and striking and hooking can be done at 

 once, as well as if one waited. Pike are very often lost 

 when spinning, but mostly through the carelessness of the 



