THE PIKE. 123 



point of the needle in at the mouth of the bait, then drive 

 it right through the body, and bring it out between the 

 forks of the tail. The lead is now pushed into the belly of 

 the fish, until the hooks lie by the side of the mouth ; next 

 the tail can be tied to the gimp, then hang the loop of this 

 contrivance in the spring loop at the bottom of the trace, and 

 it is ready. In the weedy places where this is used, there 

 may be a few holes and openings that are comparatively free. 

 Drop or throw the bait into these openings, and work it 

 with a series of jerks up and down, letting it sink to the 

 bottom, and then drawing it to the surface with a jerky 

 motion. When a fish seizes the bait, the angler must let 

 him take it where he likes, letting out the line from the reel, 

 so that the fish shall not feel any obstruction. The fish 

 begins to swallow the bait ; when he stops, and the angler 

 allows him ten minutes to perform this operation, unless he 

 begins to move off before, at the end of that time, wind up 

 the line and pull a little ; striking is not necessary, as the 

 pike most likely has got the bait down his belly, and all the 

 striking in the world won't make it any faster. This is a 

 plan of fishing that I don't like, because if you only hook a 

 pound fish or he swallows the bait, you cannot return him 

 to the water he must be killed. I don't practise this plan, 

 if the place can any how be spun over. Another method of 

 pike fishing is by live baiting. For this method, the spinning 

 trace is dispensed with, and a single length of gimp, about 

 two feet long, is used. At the bottom of this there is an 

 arrangement of hooks, arid at the top a loop ; the hooks are 

 generally a triangle at the bottom, and a little above it there 

 is whipped a smaller single hook. This small hook is 

 fastened to the fish, at the side near to the back fin, by the 

 help of the baiting-needle, and the triangle hangs loose 

 against the side near to the belly of the bait. A double 

 hook is sometimes used instead of a triangle, especially if the 

 water is fine, because the hooks will lie closer to the side of 

 the fish, and the pike not notice them. Another sort of 

 live-bait tackle is made by merely having a double hook on 

 the bottom of the gimp : the baiting-needle is passed under 

 the skin, near to the shoulder of the bait, and brought out a 



